Stargate SG1 Cloak & Dagger
by MingTM
Summary: General possibly commiting High-Treason
1. Chapter 1

STARGATE SG-1

CLOAK AND DAGGER

By

Tommy () Jindrich

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 belongs to whoevere Stargate belongs to and the same goes for Jag

**THE PARK**

Our story begins in a park just like any other city park sunny skies with plenty of people doing their park thing I.E. picnics, playing catch, throwing Frisbees to dogs. looking down at a park bench we see Woolsey wearing a trench coat and a golf cap fidgeting nervously.

From behind a man wearing faded blue jeans and a t-shirt proclaiming to be the property of the "William & Mary College Athletic Dept." approaches circling to the left carrying a laptop case. Looking at Woolsey's attire and shaking his head " Woolsey! What on God's green earth are you wearing?" Mockingly says CIA Agent Clayton Webb,

" Isn't this what spies wear to clandestine meetings?" Woolsey responds

" You've been watching way to many reruns of I Spy on the Sleuth Channel", is Webbs reply

Setting the laptop next to Woolsey Webb says, "Wouldn't it have been easier to just tell us it was nothing more than an on-line role playing sci-fi fantasy game we were chasing".

A very agitated Woolsey says "GAME! You think all this is a game!" Still flustered he continues "No! it's not a game"

Webb's only reply is a nonchalant "Really?"

Woolsey says "Come with me", as he Stands up and grabs Webb by the arm and the laptop in his other leading Webb to the park rest room going inside Woolsey hands Webb an Asgard device

"What am I suppose to do with this?" Webb asks

Woolsey tells him to go in the stall and push the button.

"Is this some kind of a joke?" Webb says

Woolsey's response is "Humor me, just do it."

Going into the stall closing the door behind him he pushes the buttonFrom outside the stall we see the lights of an Asgard transport scene to the bridge of an Asgard ship where a bewildered Webb stands looking at the earth from outer space.

"Alrighty then what now?" He says

" Ahem!" Webb hears from behind him

Webb turns around to see his first Asgard, Loki

"Really?" A much more hesitant Webb says

Loki states "I'll have you know that I was the Asgards top genetic scientist and that my time is much to valuable to be playing parlor tricks for you humans so now I will bid you a good day."

With that Loki reaches for the stone on the control panel, but pauses for a split second slides the stone a smidge to the right before turning to engage it, there's a devilish smirk on Loki's face as the glow from the transporter reflects off his face.

Scene switches back to the park where Woolsey paces nervously outside the restrooms. The next thing you know there's a bunch of women screaming and hollering obscenities; seconds later Webb exit's the ladies room with purse swinging ladies in hot pursuit Apologizing profusely Webb grabs Woolsey by the arm and quickly leads him away.

"SORRY! SORRY! REALLY IT WAS JUST A MISTAKE." Webb repeats several times

Speaking so only Woolsey can hear him, "You'd think a race intelligent enough to have beaming technology would be able to put me back where they got me!"

Woolsey smirks "I see you've met Loki"

"He didn't say" was Webb's answer

Woolsey continued, "Loki doesn't exactly feel humans should be interacting on the same level as the Asgard"

"Oh, How does he feel we should be interacting with them" Webb asks

" More or less we're nothing more than lab rats to him" Woolsey admits

Looking back to make sure they've eluded the angry mob Webb sits Woolsey down on an empty park bench

"Can I assume I have your undivided attention now," Woolsey asks

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Says Webb

"Does that chatter you've been picking up make more sense now?" Asks Woolsey

"God help us, too much," Webb exclaims

" What's our next step?" Asks Woolsey

Without hesitation Webb says "Eliminate the threats, of course"

Woolsey says "Surely your not suggesting we….."

Before Woolsey can finish Webb interjects "This isn't just National Security your talking about, It's the fate of the entire planet"

Woolsey proclaims "I'm well aware of what's at stake Agent Webb. However each and every one of these people put their lives on the line every time they step through the gate and as such deserve nothing less than due process"

Webb shaking his head in disbelief and repeats "Due process"

"Nothing less," Woolsey reiterates

" Alrighty then. So your going to need two military lawyers one for the prosecution and one for the defense and a military judge all of which need to pass the extra high security clearance you put me through, right?

Woolsey queries "Yes, How did you know?"

Webb gives Woolsey a are you kidding me look " Really?"

"Never mind" adds Woolsey

"Military personnel are use to being able to choose their legal council although I'm sure Stargate personnel will understand the brevity of choices with the security concerns." then Webb adds "Believe it or not I played devils advocate with myself last night to see what direction I would go."

Woolsey encourages "Go on"

"I came up with two candidates that not only fit our needs but passed your extra security protocol. The first is someone I believe General Landry would probably go to without any prodding from us." Webb adds

With anticipation Woolsey asks "And who's that?"

Webb continues "An old friend of his, Admiral A. J. Chegwidden Ret.; Not only a lawyer but a former JAG."

LANDRY CONTACTS CHEGWIDDEN

Scene switches to the front door of A.J. Chegwidden being knocked on by someone in dress uniform. The door opens and A.J. exclaims "Why Hank Landry it's been years, what in the world brings you to my doorstep ?"

"Hello AJ , We need to talk" says Landry

"Come on in" A.J. invites Landry in

Scene switches back to the park

Webb says, "The second …"

Woolsey interrupting "Someone who'll protect our interest?"

Webb rebukes Woolsey, "Absolutely NOT! I thought you wanted due process"

Woolsey agrees "Yes of course I just thought"

Webb added "Well thinking like that reeks of cover up"

Woolsey relents "Sorry old habits"

Webb continued "As I was about to say the second has to be someone who is absolutely not afraid to bite the hand that feeds her"

Woolsey interrupts(again) "Her?"

Webb Barks "Are you going to interrupt every time?"

Woolsey backs off again "Sorry old habits again"

Webb tries to finish "A buy the book ,nothing but the truth good or bad, go for the throat type."

Wolsey pauses to make sure Webb has finished "Who?"

"Lt. Col Sarah Mackenzie. The problem is she's currently TDA in Europe, Italy I believe, a fairly cushy position if I've heard correctly." Webb admitted

THE SECNAV ENLISTS COL. MACKENZIE

Scene switches to N.A.T.O. Command European Campus. The U.S. Jag department where a heated discussion between Lt. Col Sarah Mackenzie and Lt. Cmdr. Jonathan Kane is taking placeCol. Mackenzie Insists "I told you to handle the ambassadors complaint personally!"

"The Gunny begged me to let him apologize for himself" Kane replies

Mackenzie asks "Why did the Gunny punch out the ambassadors aide?"

Kane responds "The aide refused to accept the Gunny's apology "

As any good lawyer Mackenzie asks a question she already knows the answer to "Refresh my memory what was the Gunny apologizing for?"

A dejected Kane replies "For punching out the ambassadors other aide"

Mackenzie concludes "Do you notice a pattern here?"

"Regardless" Kane adds "The ambassador has already called five times today demanding to see his commanding officer.

As we look over Col. MacKenzie's shoulder to the office entrance we see SecNav Edward Sheffield enteringWith her back to the door Col. MacKenzie doesn't see; however Kane does and snaps to attention. MacKenzie turns to come face to face with the SecNav.

Mackenzie apologetically "Sorry Mr. Secretary I didn't see you."

The Sec Nav quickly dismisses any wrongdoing "Quite alright Col. Mackenzie you seem quite involved just then. I hate to interrupt but I have something rather urgent we need to discuss."

Mackenzie immediately obliges the Sec Nav "Of course, Kane you get the Gunny in here and I'll deal with this shortly. Right this way sir."Leading the SecNav into her office.

The Sec Nav gets right down to business "I'm here at the personnel behest of the President to request your participation in a top secret operation, However, while I'm not at liberty to divulge the particulars' I am told it will be a life altering experience, As a matter of fact the President informed me that a JAG Judge requiring an extremely high security clearance will be needed and I'm seriously considering taking the position myself.

With little hesitation Mackenzie responds "I'd be honored to accept"

"Without questions?" The Sec Nav queries

Mackenzie firmly replies "When do we leave?"

A now grinning Sec Nav admits " ASAP, I have a plane ready and waiting on the tarmac "

"Would LT. Cmdr Kane hold down the fort here until my replacement can be found?" Mackenzie inquires

The Sec Nav replies "At your recommendation; of course"

Walking to the office door and opening it as a smile comes to her face" After you Mr. Secretary" Mackenzie offers

Nervously the Sec Nav adds "I sure hope this doesn't come back to bite me in the ass"

Walking from her office Col MacKenzie spots Cmdr. Kane on the phoneand calls to him "Cmdr. Kane" (He doesn't respond ; she repeats a little louder) "Cmdr Kane! "

(The Cmdr holds up a finger indicating one moment please)

Col. MacKenzie gestures to her aide and whispers something in her(the aide) ear as Col. MacKenzie hands her the key to her apartment. With no patience left

Col. MacKenzie barks "Cmdr. Jonathan Kane front and center!"

Hanging up the phone and going directly to the Col. Apologetically Kane says "I'm sorry Col. MacKenzie that was the ambassadors people again and…"

Col. MacKenzie sticks a hand in his face indicating stop NOW

Col. MacKenzie drops the news grenade right into Kane's lap "I've been relieved of command for special assignment effective immediately

Kane stutters "B..B..But what about the ambassador?"

Trying not to smile to much Mackenzie says "He wants to see the Gunny's commanding officer correct?"

" Yes" Kane reaffirms

Col. MacKenzie glances at her watch and responds "As of 90 seconds ago that is you (with a devilish grin)you'd better get going."

Col. Mackenzie grabs the hot duffle she keeps with her at all times for just such short notice events as she and the Sec Nav exit the office leaving a stunned Cmdr. Kane in their wake.


	2. Chapter 2

**WHO'S IN THE LOOP**

**SGC Conference Room 1 **

The scene opens in the Star Gate Command conference room. Present are Woolsey, Webb, Lt. Col. Carter, Lt. Col. MacKenzie, Adm. A.J. Chegwidden, Lt. Col. Mitchell, Dr. Daniel Jackson, Teal'c, Vala, Former SecNav now JAG Judge Edward Sheffield, General Landry and last but not least the recently retired General O'Neill (strangely enough wearing a Minnesota Vikings 4 jersey )

"Jack, I wasn't aware of any new uniform protocol." says Landry

"If you must know I'm making a statement " responds O'Neill

"Which is ?" says Landry

"Do you realize how hard it is to stay retired from this outfit?" is O'Neill's comeback

Everyone (but Woolsey) gets a chuckle

Woolsey asks "Alright I'll bite; how hard?"

"Really?" says Webb

Landry insists "Never mind Woolsey just tell us why we're all here"

Woolsey begins "Yes, Thank You for all coming on such short notice. Let me start by saying that what transpires here is to be kept in as tight a loop as possible for security reasons. For those of you who have not met our guest; This is Agent Clayton Webb of the CIA and from The Judge Advocate Generals offices Adm. Chegwidden, Lt. Col. MacKenzie and the freshly reassigned Judge Edward Sheffield .I'm going to turn this meeting over to Agent Webb who's findings are what brought this all about."

Webb gets right to it "Well there's really no easy way to begin so I'll start at the beginning. The agency had been intercepting a lot of chatter seemingly referring to some sort of conspiracy , however it didn't seem encoded it appeared to be right out there in the wide open, really weird stuff to; Star Gates, Off World, Ori and such which made no sense to us. Then the I.O.A. approached us , Having already been thru their(the IOA) security screening I was given full access to Star Gate files. At first I honestly thought it was some kind of online fantasy role playing game . However Mr. Woolsey was well prepared to convince me otherwise. Now everything we've been picking up makes a little more (for lack of a more reasonable word) sense. The most disturbing parts of these is why we're here. Let me play you a recording of a call we intercepted a short time ago

Persons unknown talking

Voice 1: We thought we'd have access to the Gate by now what's the problem?

Voice 2 : Did you think the most highly guarded secret on the entire planet would be easy to infiltrate?

Voice 1: You assured us that the General was signed sealed and delivered.

Voice 2 : That's correct ; I also told him to take as much time as he needed to do it right. We've only got one shot at this and I don't want to blow it .

Voice 1: How long !

Voice 2 : As Long As It Takes Now be patient and wait for me to contact you with further instructions.

Webb hit the stop button

Webb continues "I'm sure I don't have to tell anyone just how damaging this information can be, I can only add that none of our intel. Points to anyone specifically, However the only two Generals with unlimited access to the gate are in this room right now."

O'Neill can't help himself blurts out "You have got to be kidding!"

Landry tries to settle him "Calm down Jack Agent Webb is only doing his job, as ridiculous as it may seem."

Woolsey quickly insists "I assure you that the I.O.A. is taking this very seriously regardless of how outlandish it seems"

"FINE! Where do we go from here" a still agitated O'Neill asks

Woolsey reassures everyone "The IOA has no desire to accuse anyone until we've had more time to investigate the matter. The offer on the table is for the two of you to voluntarily isolate yourselves at the Beta Site while Adm. Chegwidden with Valas' help investigates in the interest of your defense, At the same time Lt. Col. MacKenzie with the help of Dr. Jackson will investigate on behalf of the prosecution should it come to that."

Landry's quickly injects " And just who is going to run this place while we're all off world, YOU?"

Once again Woolsey reassures "You'll be happy to know that the day to day command decisions of the SGC Will be in the very capable hands of Lt. Col. Carter"

A stunned Carter "ME?"

A relieved O'Neill says "That's the first smart thing you've said since I got here."

"Thank You sir" Carter says still a little stunned

Woolsey continues "You will each have to appoint someone(with clearance of course) to handle your affairs while your gone which will be within the next hour if you all agree."

Landry brings up an important point "Mr. Woolsey, are you aware that we were right in the middle of investigating Adria sightings."

Woolsey admits "I am and Col. Mitchell and Teal'c will be continuing just that"

Mitchell tells Teal'c "Looks like it's just you and me big guy "

Teal'c concurs "Indeed"

LANDRYS QUARTERS

The scene is General Landry's bedroom where He is packing a duffle bag there is a knock at the door

"Enter!" Landry calls out

The door opens reviling his ex-wife Kim and Sun the long time family lawyer

" Well that secret lasted almost a hour. What do you think your doing here?" Landry laments

Kim says "Carolyn said you'd be canceling our dinners for the foreseeable future and couldn't say why. We were married long enough for me to figure out you were in some kind of trouble and you know how I feel about military lawyers."

Landry relents "Forgive me Sun (giving the lawyer (who also happens to be his step daughter from her first marriage) a big hug) it is good to see you regardless of the futility of the act."

Sun agrees "It's good to see you too Dad"

Landry insists "I haven't been accused let alone charged with anything yet. I'm just going to be voluntarily isolated for my own benefit; Besides Sun is your lawyer not mine."

Kim insists "That was only for the divorce, now she is our lawyer again"

Landry reassures then both "That's very thoughtful, However as I've already stated that is not now and may never be necessary, but thank you anyway. Now it's not that I don't enjoy your company, But I only have a few minutes to finish packing."

Kim Presses on "Where are they sending you ?"

"I'm not at liberty to say and you already knew that." Landry states

O'NEILL GIVES WALTER HIS HOUSE KEYS

The scene is General O'Neill and Sgt. Harriman standing in an SGC corridor as he hands Walter the keys to his place.

"You know the drill Walter" says O'Neill

Walter acknowledges "Yes sir"

O'Neill continues "Feed the fish"

Walter reminds "You gave the fish to General Hammonds Grand daughters "

O'Neill reflects "You realize if he were here now he'd have the proper contacts to put and end to this "

Walter agrees "Yes sir"

O'Neill adds "Water the plants?"

Walter adds "You vowed never to buy any more after the last ones died "

O'Neill questions "Put the newspaper on hold ?"

Walter starts "If I remember correctly…"

O'Neill doesn't even let him finish "Never mind, just do whatever it is that you do"

"Yes sir" Walter agrees

THE GENERALS DEPARTURE

The scene is the gate room, a 6 wheeled ATV with a utility trailer loaded with the generals duffle bags and other necessities ready to deploy through the gate. Generals O'Neill and Landry dressed in ACU fatigues are prepared to depart. Dr. Lam exchanges a quick huge with her father and Col. Carter prepares to assume command.

Landry to his daughter "Your mother and sister were here."

Apologetically Dr. Lam "I know and I'm sorry; I thought you'd be gone before she could pull something like this."

O'Neill queries "Where's Woolsey?"

Carter informs them "He's in the conference room with Agent Webb, The Jag attorneys and the rest of SG-1 briefing them on our security protocol. Any last words of wisdom for me sir? I mean Sirs."

O'Neill confides "You'll do fine Carter, Do I looked worried?"

Landry agrees "General O'Neill's absolutely correct I can't think of anyone I'd rather have in MY chair while I am (for lack of a kinder word) indisposed.

"The gate starts to spin chevrons begin to lock as General O'Neill slips himself into the back seat a wormhole is established. General Landry puts it in gear and proceeds through the event horizon. Col. Carter gives Dr. Lam an after you wave of the hand and they exit the gate room.

BETA-SITE ARRIVAL

The scene is the Beta-Site control room the alarm goes off announcing an incoming wormhole. Present are Col. Havlat and Sgt. Sharp.

Sharp announces "It's the SGC IDC sir."

Havlat concurs "Open the iris "

Sharp puts her hand on the palm reader opening the iris. The ATV carrying the generals exit's the event horizon as Col. Havlat and Sgt. Sharp enter the gate room.

"Welcome to our little piece of the galaxy generals. We hope to make your stay as comfortable as possible despite the reasons." Havlat extols

"Which are?" O'Neill inquires

Havlat insists "We weren't given specifics sir, just to keep you safe."

"Just being here should be enough to accomplish that. We expect no special treatment just go on about your business as if we weren't here." adds Landry

Havlat concedes "Thank you sir. Sgt. Sharp will show you to your quarters Sgt."

"Right this way generals. Your gear will follow shortly" says Sharp

"I should have brought that book I've been meaning to read." O'Neill reflects"

"Which one is that?" Landry asks

O'Neill responds "I don't know I hadn't picked it out yet."


	3. Chapter 3

**LEARNING ON THE FLY**

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

The scene is the SGC Conference room Woolsey's just finishing going over security protocols for the Newcomers (Agent Webb, Adm. Chegwidden, Lt. Col. MacKenzie and now Judge Edward Sheffield ) as SG-1 watches on ( Mitchell, Jackson, Teal'c and Vala).

Woolsey starts "I can't stress enough how important these protocols are I'm sure SG-1 will back me on this."

Mitchell (under his breath) "Yea right"

Woolsey asks "Something Col. Mitchell?"

Mitchell quips "No sir just backing you up."

"Thank you, So now Agent Webb will start briefing you on what intel the CIA has managed to gather." Woolsey says

Webb begins "Well you've all heard the recording and that is without a doubt the most damaging of anything we have but is by no means conclusive. Most of what we have is extremely vague. My plan is to throw out certain specifics that we hope will lead you in the right direction. Dr. Jackson we have transcripts discussing certain artifacts located at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, IL. We would have had them brought to us if we could have figure out what they were talking about, however we could not "

Dr. Jackson sings "Road trip!"

A puzzled Col. Mackenzie asks "We're going to Chicago based just on that?"

Dr. Jackson answers "Believe me I've gone places on a lot less intel then this"

Vala almost singing "Chicago, Chicago that toddling town, The Windy City, Vote early , vote often (Whatever that means)

Webb says "I'm afraid we'll be spreading you a little thinner then that."

"No Chicago" Vala says

"Nope ; You and Adm. Chegwidden will be following up a lead taking you to New York City, The Ed Sullivan Theater to be precise, we've heard more then once that they have people there. I wish I could be more help." Webb admits

Vala still elated "New York City, The city that never sleeps, Late Night with David what's his name "

Webb claims "By the time we're through you will all have enough frequent flyer miles to go anywhere on the planet for free"

Mitchell quips "We already go a lot further than that "

"Yea, But I've read what it costs to fire that thing up; It's the farthest thing from free" adds Webb

They finally notice that Col. Carter and Dr. Lam have been standing at the door

Webb asks "Is there anything you'd like us go over again ladies?"

Carter politely declines "No I think we got the jist of it."

"Very good ; I'm sure I don't have to tell you to keep in contact, we will be looking forward to frequent updates." says Webb

Woolsey finishes with "Well, We all have a lot of preparations to make so We'll let you get started; Thank you."Everyone heads for the door except for Col. Carter, Col. Mitchell and Teal'c.

Mitchell quips " He wasn't kidding when he said he was spreading us thin"

Carter agrees "I know, I know, We'll just deal with it like we always do"

Mitchell adds "Jackson to Chicago, Vala to New York and Teal'c and I are going where?""

I believe we already know we are going to P-1953 Col. Mitchell" Teal'c reminds him

Mitchell concedes "Right again big guy"

"Why do I have the strangest feeling that this is just how somebody wants things to go." Carter speculates

"Indeed" Teal'c agrees

HEADING FOR THE AIRPORT

The scene is the carpool at Cheyenne Mtn. where Dr. Jackson, Col. MacKenzie, Adm. Chegwidden and Vala are climbing into a military transport after loading their bags into the back.

MacKenzie surmises "If we have to use public transportation this could take a while."

"No kidding, Why don't we just beam up to the Pegasus and beam to our destinations." says Vala

"Indiscretion is always the order of the day. We never want to draw attention to ourselves when possible. It may seem paranoid, but you'll soon find out how little it takes to raise red flags with certain agencies and most of them who are supposed to be on our side." Jackson imparts

"Beam!" MacKenzie asks

"I promise I'll explain later" says Jackson

A.J. queries "Are we expected to remain politically correct"

Jackson answers "You'll find that nearly impossible"

Vala asks "What is politically correct?"

Jackson admits "There aren't enough hours in the day Vala. Alright, I realize this seems to be happening at warp speed but I'll try to give you enough information to stay ahead. First Vala is not from Earth.(Vala gives a big smile) so do not rely on her for anything earthly"

Vala argues "I'm getting much better at it"

A.J. argues "And she's supposed to help me how exactly?"

Jackson explains "She's been with the SGC long enough to know all things relating to the gate and our off world activities and she will spot things that would never catch your attention. Most of which will be trivial and insignificant (followed by a punch to the left shoulder from behind by Vala) ouch!"

"You asked for it" declares Vala

Jackson adds "As I was saying your going to have to listen to all of it and pick out the useful bits"

"I'll ask again BEAM?" MacKenzie stresses

Jackson admits "We have many alien allies one being the Asgard that have advanced technologies including transporter or beaming capabilities as well as hyperspace travel."

Vala adds "Little green men, just like in your comic books."

"Cool" A.J. exclaims

" When will we be given full access to Stargate files to bring us up to speed ?" MacKenzie asks

"You actually have it now. The only restriction is that it's only accessible on the base." Jackson answers

"Webb claims he had it all on the lap top Woolsey gave him." says A.J.

Jackson admits "Yes; well you have no idea how many security protocols he broke with that little stunt. I can promise you before this is over he will pay dearly for it. Anywho Vala and I are your access while we are out. So, ask away."

MacKenzie starts "I was promised a life altering experience boy they weren't kidding. So can We assume that Teal'c is an alien ?"

"Yes. Let me try to make it a little easier for you, The only stupid question will be the one you don't ask." Jackson emphasizes

Vala adds "That's rule 1 for me"

Jackson adds "Oh Yea (earning him another punch) ow !"

MacKenzie continues "So Egyptian artifacts?"

"OK a little history lesson. The stargate was discovered at a dig in Egypt in the 20's and secretly spirited away to the U.S. The top scientist of the day were brought in to figure it out with very little success. They actually managed to activate it once, But they thought that the event horizon was some type of liquid and sent one of their top men in wearing a diving suit, Naturally he was instantly transported to a distant planet and when the wormhole disengaged all of the life lines were severed. That scared them enough to shut the entire project down." says Jackson

A.J. queries "Until?"

Jackson continues "Until about 12 years ago when Catherine Langford the daughter of the archeologist that unearthed it originally came forth with new ideas and theories and convinced the government to try again. At first it still didn't go very well, until she came across the wild and crazy writings of a young Egyptologist who had managed to get himself totally discredited in his field for claiming that the pyramids were nothing more landing sites for aliens. She had him brought in on the project and he managed to decipher the codes needed to make it work."

Vala injects "You young and crazy Egyptologist! (earning him another punch)

"You were the Egyptologist?" asks MacKenzie

"Guilty" Jackson admits

"As a former Seal believe it or not my first question is did you ever try to find that scientist?" Asks A.J.

Jackson proudly exclaims "Well believe it or not We uncovered some old files containing 8mm film footage of the incident which gave us a gate address to go to and believe it or not we found him still alive. Oh a little side bar to this story is that the long lost scientist also happened to be the secret fiancé of Catherine Langford with whom he is now blissfully reunited with."

MacKenzie inputs "Sounds like a made-for-TV movie on Lifetime."

"I probably would have said Twilight Zone or Outer Limits even" says A.J.

"Ooh, I haven't seen those are they any good?" Vala wants to know

Jackson interrupts "Hello! General possibly committing high treason "

"What do we hope to find at the museum?" asks Mackenzie

"Hopefully I will be able to spot anything that's not really Egyptian." Jackson answers

"At least that sounds plausible. All they gave us to go on is the Ed Sullivan Theater." says A.J.

Jackson agrees "Yea that is about as vague as it comes. Your going to have to rely heavily on Vala to spot something"

"Gee thanks" says A.J.

Jackson adds "Welcome to my world(quickly turning to Vala ) DON'T !"Vala unclenches her fist and sits back in her seat pouting

Jackson suggests "I would probably lean towards technicians that have access to all of the satellite equipment to use for their own purposes after hours"

"Not bad for a crazy Egyptologist" Mackenzie compliments

"You'll learn rather quickly to become a Jack-of- All if you hope to stay ahead of the bad guys (and good guys for that matter)" says Jackson

"These bad guys are all aliens?" asks A.J.

"No, No not at all, there are some very unscrupulous groups right here on and from earth; I'm afraid it's nearly impossible to tell the good guys from the bad guys without a scorecard and just when you think you know all the players something like this pops up." is Jackson's reply

"So instead of "What have you done for me lately' , it's "What have you done to me lately"' Mackenzie quips

Jackson agrees "Pretty much "

AIRPORT 1

The scene is Colorado Springs Municipal Airport with Jackson, Vala, Col. MacKenzie and Adm. Chegwidden unloading their luggage from the military transport.

"I thought an airport would be larger than this" Vala decries

"This is a small municipal airport we'll catch a puddle jumper to Stapleton Int." Jackson replies

"Puddle Jumper does not instill much confidence. Is a puddle jumper bigger than an Ha'tac?" Vala asks

"Two totally different aircraft." Jackson answers

"Ha'tac'?" A.J. asks

"It's an alien ship with limited inter-stellar capabilities" Jackson replies

"Inter-stellar!" Mackenzie gasps

"Cool" A.J. adds

As they enter the terminal Daniel pulls Vala aside and speaking very softly"Tell me you remembered to leave all concealed weapons at the base"

Vala squirms a little and tentatively answers "I believe so"

"You see the little tunnels everybody has to walk through?" asks Jackson

"Yes" Vala answers

"They're metal detectors and if you have anything on you an alarm will go off and airport security will strip search you" Jackson educates

"Your telling me this now!" Vala insists

"Why, what do you have?" Jackson demands

"Nothing , but if I had known ; I mean they're kind of cute" says Vala

Daniel just shutters while Col. Mackenzie and Adm Chegwidden fight to hold back the laughter.

After checking their luggage the Star Gate Dream Team have boarded the plane and are listening to the air hostess finish her instructions.

"Seatbelts? Why don't they just engage the inertial dampeners?" Vala asks

"She wasn't kidding about it being her #1 rule was she ?" Mackenzie snickers

"Ya Think; God I hate when I do that." Jackson mumbles

Puzzled looks from both Mackenzie & Chegwidden

"When he uses O'Neillisms." Vala says

"You mean when he says things the way General O'Neill would?" Mackenzie asks

Very dejectedly Jackson answers "Yes"

A.J. speculates "I take it the technology out there is way advanced to ours"

"Day & Night" Jackson answers

"Does it at least have shields?" Vala asks

"Nope" is Jackson's answer

"Has any of this technology been integrated into every day life" Mackenzie asks

"Not unless you believe the stories about velcro ; Even what we use hasn't been fully integrated throughout the military." Jackson admits

"Why?" Mackenzie queries

"The biggest draw back is the availability of the raw Naquadah needed to power most of it." Jackson explains

"Naquadah?" A.J. asks

"The equivalent to plutonium only much more powerful and it last almost forever." Jackson says

With that the puddle jumper taxis to the runway and powers up for take off, which causes Vala to put a death grip on Daniels arm.

"Your lucky this is only a 30 minute trip" Mackenzie points out

Jackson starts "Ya thi…(catching himself) Yes I am" And as the plane achieves lift off the grip only tightens AIRPORT 2The scene is Stapleton Int. Airport Denver, CO . The puddle jumper has landed and they are about to disembark

"You can let go now Vala we've landed" Jackson implores

Vala peaks out of one eye to see if Daniels' telling the truth "Oh! Well that wasn't so bad"

"I'll let you know as soon as I get circulation back in my arm" Jackson moans

This earns him another punch

"Well some good actually came of this" Jackson smirks

"What's that?" Mackenzie asks

"I didn't feel that one at all" Jackson smirks

Vala winds up to strike again but Daniel holds up a finger "Don't press your luck!" Vala stops and they leave the plane. As they walk across the tarmac Vala sees the much larger planes

"Now that's more like it" Vala says

"Has Vala ever been off the base?" A.J. asks

Before answering Jackson puts the JAG attorneys between him and Vala" Yes but only for short distances and times fortunately we've recovered each time"

Vala warns "You can't hide forever"

Now inside the terminal they check their boarding passes to see what gates they need

"Will there be more metal detectors ?" Vala asks

"Possibly" says Jackson

"Are there any shops?" asks Vala

"Not here by the gates, only a few bars and a couple of eateries" Mackenzie informs

Jackson adds "You should also know they won't give you anything sharp or metallic"

Mackenzie gasps "She wouldn't!"

"Don't bet on it, ever" Jackson says

"Good Lord! I should have been issued a manual or something." A.J. spouts

"She's also not and has never been military either , so pulling rank won't help" Jackson informs

"Well it looks like our gates are right next to each other, so we'll be able to help you keep an eye on her, at least until we board " Mackenzie offers

"OH PLEASE! He makes it sound much worse then it is." Vala decries

"Maybe a drink would calm her down a little for the next flight." Mackenzie says

"Only if you have a couple of Valium to slip in it" Jackson adds

"OK Now I think your exaggerating things" Mackenzie insists

"Thank you" says Vala

"Right now I'm the one who needs the valium." A.J. admits

"Maybe, but at least you have your seal training to rely on" Mackenzie reminds


	4. Chapter 4

** ADRIA ?**

**MITCHELL & TEAL'C**

The scene is the SGC Gate room. Present are Col. Carter, Col. Mitchell and Teal'c. Mitchell and Teal'c are geared up and ready to go off world

"So, We're the last to go?" asks Mitchell

"Looks that way" Carter answers

"Why so much gear?" Mitchell asks

"Rya'c and Ishta let us know that the village you would be going to is some distance from the gate" is Carters response

Teal'c adds "They will be there to guide us Col. Mitchell"

"Ishta, scary, but nice" Mitchell admits

"The latest intel we have is just as cryptic as the original. Sightings of a woman fitting Adria's description traveling with another woman both claiming she's not Adria. The report states they were both seen unconscious and naked at the foot of the stargate on p-1953." Carter explains

"Was not Daniel Jackson found under similar circumstances after the ancient ascended expelled him and returned him to human form" Teal'c states

"Your kidding!" Mitchell yelps

"I thought you said you'd read every report ever written about the Star Gate, While you were recovering from the injuries you suffered at Antarctica" Carter asks

"Well let's not forget I read some of those while heavily medicated" Mitchell reminds

"Alright, I'll give you a little leeway on that; Anyway Teal'c is correct, those are exactly the circumstances Daniel was found in after being expelled." Carter says

"Are we assuming that the other woman could be Morgan le Fay?" Mitchell asks

"It is difficult to understand why they would remain together even if they were expelled at the same time" Teal'c says

Mitchell agrees "You can say that again; We left them at each others throats in an "Ascended Beings Death Match""

"They were apparently discovered and summarily thrown out" Carter surmises

"Some kind of Zen Stockholm Syndrome" Mitchell says

"If Adria no longer has the Ori to protect her and Morgan no longer has being ascended to help her, so it's probably a some kind of mutual cease fire" Carter assumes

"They appear to no longer be a threat to anyone, not even each other, then why are we pursuing these leads." Teal'c asks

"Information, Mainly, We feel they could fill in a lot of the blank spots we have about certain events that transpired during her reign of terror. We hope it might bring closure to those people who have no idea whatever happened to missing loved ones" Carter says

"Indeed" Teal'c concurs

"You don't suppose they're still…" Mitchell begins

"No! " Carter interrupts

"Hey! They're both very attractive ladies; I can hope can't I" Mitchell responds

"Nice try; We've even packed jump suits that should fit them; IF you find them. At least we know it would be very hard to hide weapons under those." Carter says

"Well let's get this show on the road " Mitchell says

Looking at the control room window at Walter

"Dial up p-1953 Sgt." Carter gives the order

"Yes Ma'am" Walter obeys

The gate starts revolving, chevrons begin locking and a wormhole is established

"Be careful there are still a lot of people who would shoot first if they recognize Adria" Carter advises

"Without this new intel I might have been one of them" Mitchell admits

With that Mitchell and Teal'c walk up the ramp and into the event horizon

The scene switches to P-1953; the gate is activated with Rya'c and Ishta waiting near by as Mitchell and Teal'c exit the event horizon.

Teal'c exchanges embraces with them

"It is good to see you father" says Rya'c

"As it is you my son and You Ishta" Teal'c answers

"Welcome Teal'c, I only wish it were under better circumstances" says Ishta

"Well if what we're told is true it's no big deal" Mitchell says

"Indeed; Have we any current information on the whereabouts of the one believed to be Adria"

"No father; I felt it imperative to inform you of our progress" Rya'c responds

"Very well ; How far is it to the last village they were seen?" Teal'c asks

"It is two days journey to the south of here" Ishta says

"Two days! I knew we should've kept the ATV" whines Mitchell

"I do not believe the Generals would have seen it that way Col. Mitchell" says Teal'c

"You really have a way of stating the obvious big guy; Ya know we could use the MALP to carry our gear" Mitchell suggests

"The MALP must remain in close proximity to the star gate for us to maintain radio…" Teal'c starts

Teal'c doesn't even finish before Mitchell cuts him off

"Yes, Yes ,Yes I know; Man I wish my conscience wasn't so much bigger than I am; Alright let's get a move on, are there any villages between here and there that would put us up for the night? Mitchell asks

"I am afraid not Col. Mitchell" Ishta confirms

"I was afraid you were going to say that; Maybe we should call home and request more provisions and a bike or two" Mitchell suggests

"Col. Mitchell we are told that the woods are full of game and ripe with vegetation the entire trip we will want for nothing" Rya'c says

Col. Mitchell grimaces "Oh Boy I can't wait; I think I'll leave the meal planning in your capable hands young man" Mitchell offers

"You will not be disappointed Col." says Rya'c

"Alright, Lead the way" Mitchell waves

With that the foursome begin the two day journey to the south. As the sun starts to set they decide to make camp next to a babbling brook for the night

"Ok, Great Hunter while Ishta and I set up camp you and your dad can find us a main course" Mitchell offers

"I am a very competent huntress Col. Mitchell" Ishta insists

"I meant no disrespect; I just thought the big guy would enjoy some quality time with his son since they don't get to see each other that much" Mitchell explains

You are correct, it was silly of me not to realize your intentions; I will be glad to help you set up your camp while Teal'c and Rya'c enjoy a hunt together" Ishta submits

"I thank you both for the opportunity. Come Rya'c we have little light remaining" says Teal'c

"Yes father" says Rya'c

Teal'c and Rya'c head out to acquire dinner while Mitchell and Ishta begin to assemble the tents

Mitchell and Ishta barely have enough time to get the tents assembled, before Teal'c and Rya'c return with a couple of small furry creatures similar to rabbits

"I sure hope you guys know how to prep and cook those things; I lost 20 pounds during wilderness survival training" Mitchell says

"Then Rya'c and I will do so, while you prepare the root plants we

were able to dig up" Teal'c offers

With that Rya'c hands Mitchell a bundle of plants he's carrying on his back, which leaves Mitchell as confused as ever

"Did I tell you the only way I survived wilderness training was the dozen or so snickers I smuggled in my canteen?" Mitchell admits

"Come Col. Mitchell I will help you clean the vegetation by the brook and then you will learn how to prep them (if I use the word correctly) for cooking" offers Ishta

"The one time I forget to pack the "Snickers"" moans Mitchell

"Ahem!" Ishta scoffs

"Yes, Coming" says Mitchell

Teal'c and Rya'c prepare their catch for cooking while Mitchell and Ishta clean and peel the root plant

"I think you will now be able to finish these while I start a fire to cook it all" says Ishta

Mitchell thinks about talking his way out of it when he remembers the "scary " part of nice

"No problemo" says Mitchell

After all the preparations are complete the meat is cooked over a make shift spit and they all enjoy a hot meal

"Not bad actually; the veggie's kind of tasted like turnips" says Mitchell

The meat reminded me of Scuzzies" says Rya'c

"Scuzzies?" asks Mitchell

"They are a small rodent indigenes to our home planet, that burrow into the dung piles of much larger creatures then eat their way out" Teal'c answers

"Geees! I'm sure glad you waited until we were finished to impart that little tidbit" Mitchell squirms

"Father actually ;what did you call it?" Rya'c queries

"Flipped a coin" says Teal'c

"Yes, flipped a coin to decide whether to tell you before or after eating""I'm going to want that coin so I can frame it when we get back" says Mitchell

"Indeed" says Teal'c

"This is probably a silly question, but what are the sleeping arrangements? We have 2 two man tents" states Mitchell

"Not to worry Col. Mitchell; it is tradition for Rya'c and I to sleep under the stars" responds Teal'c

"You are not afraid that I might bite are you?" teases Ishta

"That would have probably been the least of my worries" says Mitchell

"Then we probably set up one tent to many" Ishta quips

"No, no I think 2 will be just fine for now" Mitchell says

Ishta walks toward her tent passing Col. Mitchell on the way and whispers as she passes him "Pity"

Teal'c and Rya'c smile as they lay out their bedding and Col. Mitchell just bids everyone good night and slips into his tent. Teal'c stokes the fire one more time before laying down

"Sleep well my son" says Teal'c

"You too father" answers Rya'c


	5. Chapter 5

**READY, SET, GO**

** THE MUSEUM**

The scene is outside the Field Museum Chicago, IL Dr. Jackson and Col. MacKenzie exit a taxi and begin the climb up the stairs leading into the museum.

"Have you ever been here before?" Jackson asks

"No and I'm looking forward to it" Mackenzie answers

"I was fortunate enough to intern for one summer with a Dr. Clark in the Black Hills of South Dakota, I came away with the jaw bone of a sabre tooth tiger." Jackson reminisces

"Neat , Still Have it?" Mackenzie asks

"With all the moves, the packing ,unpacking, I really wouldn't have a clue" Jackson admits

"Been there done that" Mackenzie empathizes

Entering the museum they are met at the door by a young intern

"Dr Jackson and Col. MacKenzie?" asks the Intern

"Yes" answers Jackson

"I'm John Wisniewski an intern here and I've been instructed to give you the almost red carpet treatment" the Intern informs

"Almost?" Mackenzie asks

"Well I am an intern not the curator" says the Intern

"True enough" says Jackson

"I have to say that I'm a big fan; I've read all your works and I'll do whatever it takes to see you get everything you need; I hope to be half the Egyptologist you are." admits the Intern

"Did you slip this kid a twenty when you shook hands?" Mackenzie teases

"I'm just as stunned as you are" Jackson admits

"Just kidding Daniel." says Mackenzie

"Are you here to see the traveling "KING TUT" show?" the Intern wonders

"Do you have a permanent Egyptian exhibit?" asks Jackson

"Yes, but it's lame compared to the man child" says the Intern

"Yes I'm sure it is but that's where we'd like to start" is Jackson's response

"OooK, right this way" says the Intern

They follow the intern down a few halls then down a few more flights of stairs before finally coming to the permanent exhibit

"There it is I told you it was lame" the Intern laments

Taking a quick look around Daniels eyes light up

"Do you have the keys to any of these display cases?" asks Jackson

"No Way!" exclaims the Intern

"To bad; Where's the closest pop machine?" asks Jackson

"Wow that's way down and up a few floors" says the Intern

"That walk made me extremely thirsty how about you Col. MacKenzie?" asks Jackson

"Yes, extremely" Mackenzie answers

"So! How about some of that almost red carpet treatment and run to get us something to drink" asks Jackson

"What would you like?" the Intern relents

"Anything as long as it's cold maybe you could find a couple of cups and some ice to make sure" says Jackson

"Ok and you Ma'am?" offers the Intern

"Oh, anything diet and caffeine free" Mackenzie responds

"This may take a while" warns the Intern

"Take your time we wouldn't want you to get hurt rushing around" says Jackson

The intern walks off down the hallway

"OK , He's gone and I assume that's what you wanted" says Mackenzie"It is" answers Jackson

Daniel takes the knap sack he's been carrying off his back and opens it, fumbling around a bit he pulls a stone out

"Surely your not going to break the glass" gasps Mackenzie

"Huh? Oh! No it's actually an ancient actuator, I just hope it works through the glass." Jackson informs

Daniel tries passing the actuator over the ancients tablet he spotted while Col. MacKenzie pulls a pick set out of her purse and proceeds to pick the lock Daniel groans "The tablet's to far from the glass for the actuator to work"

Before he can say another word he looks at Col. Mackenzie in disbelief hears a click and…

"There, that should do it" Mackenzie smiles, As she lifts the case lid open

"Well you certainly haven't been around Vala long enough for her to teach you that" Jackson speculates

"No, But the need does arise in my line of work from time to time" admits Mackenzie

Wasting no time Daniel picks up the tablet and starts to pass the actuator over it explaining as he goes "This tablet is actually like an ancient PDA and the actuator turns the pages, So I need to get to the beginning"

"You can read that" Mackenzie admires

"Yes as a matter fact I can. In fact I can only think of a handful of others and none of them live here" says Jackson

'Chicago?" asks MacKenzie

"Earth" is Jackson's response

"Nice; It doesn't look like Egyptian Hieroglyphics' " Mackenzie notices

"That's because it's not, It's what we call Ancient from a race we fittingly call the Ancients" Jackson tells

"Quite the stretch there" says Mackenzie

"This isn't right" says a confused Jackson

"What?" asks Mackenzie

"It's some ones day planner" says Jackson

"So you don't think the ancients made plans" asks Mackenzie

"Well if I'm reading it correctly the last entry was 6 months ago" says Jackson

"Not exactly ancient" says MacKenzie

"I don't have the equipment to download it here and I think they just might miss it" Jackson points out

"Options?" asks Mackenzie

"If I had a camera I'd…" starts Jackson

Pulling a digital camera from her purse

"Like this" asks Mackenzie

"That'll do; Keep watch for our intern" says Jackson

Daniel starts taking pictures one page at a time. After a few minutes

"Someone's coming down the stairs" alerts Mackenzie

Daniel puts the tablet back in the display case and closes the lid just before the intern enters with drinks in hand

"Here you go" says the Intern

"Thank you very much" says Mackenzie

Handing them their drinks he glances at the display case Daniel is standing by and goes ballistic

"OH MY GOD! It's changed!" screams the Intern

"What are you talking about?" asks Jackson

"The tablet the symbols have changed" exclaims the Intern

"Are you sure?" asks Mackenzie

"Positive; I've been trying to decipher them since I got here; I've got to show someone, I'm going to get the curator this is unbelievable" says the Intern

"Go, Go we'll wait right here" Mackenzie encourages

The intern runs out and down the hall

"Who would of thought an intern would spot that so fast" an amazed Jackson says

"Were you finished?" asks Mackenzie

"Almost" answers Jackson

"Well now's your chance and this time put it back on the page you found it on" says Mackenzie

"You really expect me to remember…" starts Jackson, but before he can finish Col. Mackenzie holds the museums guide (open to the Egyptian display) where Daniel can easily see the tablet picture

"Ah, Yes, Thank You" Jackson says

Mackenzie : Your welcome, keep snapping

"We're going to have to tell Webb to keep an eye on this; Hopefully once we put it back as we found it they'll assume he just didn't look close enough" says Jackson

"And if they don't ?" Mackenzie asks

"If they start looking to close they might figure out it's not Egyptian" replies Jackson

"If they do wouldn't they probably come to you for help" Mackenzie suggests

"Good point" Jackson agrees

Daniel finishes quickly and they put everything back the way it was. Daniel hands the camera back to Col. Mackenzie who proceeds to take another picture

"What was that for?" asks Jackson

"Taking a picture of the donation plaque, it might help us find out where it came from" says Mackenzie

"Excellent idea" Jackson praises

**VALA AND THE ADMIRAL**The scene is outside the Ed Sullivan Theater Vala and the Admiral are standing in line at the ticket window to pick up the ones that are suppose to be there for them. They finally reach the window

"Tickets for Chegwidden please" says A.J.

Seconds later the ticket agent returns "Could you spell that for me?" asks the Agent

"C-h-e-g-w-i-d-d-e-n" spells A.J.

"Yep, These are the ones , I.D. please" requests the Agent

Adm Chegwidden already has his I.D. out and ready

"Right, Here ya go, enjoy the show" says the Agent

"The doors won't open for a couple of hours; Hungry?" asks A.J.

"Very" says Vala

"Ever had authentic New York Deli" A.J. asks

"What's it made from?" asks Vala

"It's a place not a thing, come on you'll love it" responds A.J.

A.J. asks a beat cop where the closest deli is and after listening to the directions says "Thank you officer, alright Vala this way" and they head off down the street

"What about that place right next to the theater, you know the guy is always on the show for some silly bit" asks Vala

"I said AUTHENTIC" A.J. insists

"You mean there are delis in New York City that are not authentic New York Delis" asks VALA

"That's exactly what I mean" answers A.J.

Vala looks back over her shoulder and it's not the first time

"Something bothering you" asks A.J.

"I've had this nagging feeling we're being followed" says Vala

"You mean the guy wearing the Yankees jersey with dress slacks and dress shoes?" says A.J.

"You saw him?" asks Vala

"Ever since we left the secured gate area at the airport" says A.J.

"Why didn't you say something?" asks Vala

"Because I don't want him to know I know" says A.J.

"What do you want me to do" asks Vala

"Just ignore him and when we need to know who he is I'll deal with him, for all we know he's our babysitter courtesy of Mr. Woolsey" says A.J.

"I should have known he wouldn't let me go this far without one" says Vala"Relax Vala, Right now Woolsey doesn't even trust himself" A.J. reassuresThey reach the deli and go inside. A.J. orders a couple of authentic Reuben's' taking a big whiff he exhales

"Man it has been to long" exclaims A.J.

"Since what?" asks Vala

"Since I've had the pleasure of breathing authentic New York Deli air" A.J. admits

"The aroma is quite pleasing" Vala agrees

"Just wait until you taste it" says A.J.

"Is it always so crowded in these?" Vala asks

"Only in the good ones" offers A.J. The clerk calls out their order number and Vala walks up to get it

"Go ahead say it" says Vala

"Say what?" asks the Clerk

"You know "NO SOUP FOR YOU"" says Vala

"Lady I ain't the "Soup Nazi" He's not even real" yells the Clerk

Vala pouts then grabs their food and walks away

"You do know the difference between reality and TV right?" asks A.J.

"Then why do they call it "Reality TV"?" asks Vala

"I don't remember drawing straws but I must have gotten the short one" moans A.J.

"Straws? Wait I see them, be right back" says Vala

A.J. just stares at the sky for a second, but decides he's not letting anything ruin this sandwich and digs in. Vala returns with straws and napkins

"It looked like we might need these" says Vala

"Without a doubt we will" says A.J.

A.J. and Vala enjoy their food in peace (as much peace as a deli affords you)

"That was exceptional" exclaims Vala

"I knew you'd like it" says A.J.

"But if I ever want more I have to come all the way to New York City?" Vala asks

"There are other Authentic ones elsewhere but now that you've had the real thing even you will be able to tell the difference." claims A.J.

"Can we visit ; what do they call it; "Ground Zero" Right?" asks Vala

"Right! And that's an excellent idea" says A.J.

A.J. walks to the curb, raises his arm and whistles loud enough to wake the dead, Vala has to cover her ears

"What was that for?" asks Vala

Just then a cabbie pulls up to them and A.J. opens the door

"Your chariot awaits madam" says A.J.

They get in the cab and give him the destination

"Ground Zero please" says A.J.

"Very good sir no smokey please" asks the Cabbie

"Not a problem" says A.J.

"Smokey?" asks Vala

"My English not so better yet" says the Cabbie

A.J. points to the "NO SMOKING" sign

"Got it" says Vala

New York traffic what it is brings Vala to this conclusion after they exit the cab

"We probably could have walked faster" declares Vala

"Doubtful but I know it seems that way" says A.J.

"How were they destroyed?" asks Vala

"Terrorist high-jacked four jet planes and 2 of them were flown into the twin towers"

"What happened to the others?" continues Vala

"One was flown into the Pentagon and the last one crashed in a Pennsylvania forest after the passengers figured out what was happening and fought back" says A.J.

"With everything you have to beware of right here on earth I don't know how you find time to go hopping across the galaxy looking for more" Vala assesses

"That is the 64 trillion dollar question" says A.J.

"Isn't it the 64 thousand dollar question" asks Vala

"I adjusted for inflation" says A.J.

"OK, What's inflation?" asks Vala

"That's a perfect question for Mr. Woolsey when we get back." answers A.J.

After taking it all in, it's time to get back to the theater and get in line so they can get seats with a good vantage point.


	6. Chapter 6

**I DID"T SEE THAT COMING**

**BACK TO THE MUSEUM**

When the intern returns with the curator Jackson and Mackenzie are sitting on a bench in the middle of the room sipping on their drinks

"Right here sir look the tablet symbols have changed" says the Intern

The curator takes a pair of glasses out of his suit coat pocket and examines the tablet using the same museum picture Daniel used to put the tablet back on the proper page "Well Mr. Wisniewski it looks the same to me" says the Curator

Handing the intern the picture so he can check it again himself"I don't understand; I could have swore it was different" claims the intern

"You must be Dr. Jackson ( shaking Daniels' hand ) I'm Andrew Barker museum curator and this lovely lady?" asks the Curator

"Lt Col. Sarah Mackenzie" responds Jackson

" A pleasure to meet the both of you" says the Curator

"Nice to meet you too" says Mackenzie

You'll have to forgive my young intern his enthusiasm outworks his comprehension at about a 50 to 1 ratio" says the Curator

Dr. Jackson stands and tries to consol the intern "You can't imagine how many times I've seen what I wanted to see only to realize later that I had gotten way ahead of myself, but I can really appreciate your enthusiasm"

"Thank you for understanding" says the intern

"Well I think we've seen everything here we needed to so if you don't mind we'll just take you up on the King Tut exhibit offer" says Jackson

"Excellent idea; I think we out did ourselves this time if I do say so myself; Mr. Wisniewski if you please" claims the Curator

"Yes sir , right this way" offers the Intern

With that the intern leads Dr. Jackson and Col. Mackenzie out the door and down the hall. As soon as the curator is sure they're gone he goes back to the display case, looking down at the tablet and smiles

"Thank you very much Dr. Jackson you've been a great help" says the Curator

The curator tries to open the locked case without success he the reaches inside his coat and pulls out an alien device that he holds up to the lock, turns it on and a second later we hear the lock make the same click it made when Col. Mackenzie picked it; opening the case he pockets the tablet replacing it with a different one that looks identical. He then reaches inside his shirt and removes an image replicating device, instantly changing him back to his real form. Major Tom Ming USAF retired. The lights in the room are on a motion detector and turn off due to the lack of movement. Slightly startled he looks at the doorway thinking someone turned them off, but no ones' there; this not only brings a smile to his face but a glow to his eyes. Sticking everything into his pockets he leavesThe scene switches to the entrance of the King Tut exhibit

"Thank you for all your help I think we can find our own way from here" says Jackson

"Your welcome and again I'm sorry for going off like that" apologizes the Intern

"You really need to not let it bother you otherwise you might miss something the next time; I guarantee you I would have done exactly the same in your position" offers Jackson

"Really?" asks the Intern

"Yes, Really" confirms Jackson

"Thank you for saying so even if I don't believe you mean it" says the Intern

"You claim to have read all my work, so you must know I was academically discredited several years ago" says Jackson

"Sounded like a witch hunt to me; well enjoy the rest of your stay" says the Intern

With that the intern dejectedly turns and walks away. Daniel and Col. Mackenzie turn and enter the King Tut exhibit

"How long do you plan on staying here?" asks Mackenzie

"Are you kidding I'm ready to turn around and run out right now, but we need to at least try to look like we've found nothing and are in no hurry, Besides you said you were looking forward to this and a few more minutes won't hurt" admits Jackson

"Why thank you" says Mackenzie

"Don't mention it" says Jackson

With that they start taking in the exhibit

**BACK IN NEW YORK**

Back at the theater they get into the line, which has already grown to around the corner.

"Gees, Let's hope they don't over book these things" moans A.J.

"What's that?" asks Vala

"Sell more tickets then they have room for" says A.J.

"They can do that?" asks Vala

"Airlines do it all the time" admits A.J.

About this time a limo pulls up to the stage entrance and some guy gets out waving to the crowd"He must be one of the guest, but I don't recognize him" says A.J.

Vala turns to look and immediately jumps behind A.J. so the man can't see her

"What's that all about?" asks A.J.

"It's Martin Lloyd, He writes a cable show called "Wormhole X-Treme"" says Vala

"Why does that sound so familiar?" asks A.J.

"Because it involves a Stargate" admits Vala

"That wouldn't be the same Stargate I had to pass an extra high security clearance just to be told about?" suspects A.J.

"Not really; His is just make believe and we use that to our advantage when people start asking questions" says Vala

"Then how does he know you?" asks A.J.

"He's really an alien, stranded here after his home world was destroyed during a war with another planet."

"What; We gave him sanctuary or something?" asks A.J.

"Sort of; His planet is currently uninhabitable, so he was allowed to stay here. He's supposed to take this drug that erases his memory, but as you can see it's far from perfected" says Vala

"So he thinks he dreamed it all up" A.J. surmises

"That's the general idea, We have to check up on him now and then" says Vala

"So he knows you?" asks A.J.

Fortunately or unfortunately depending on your point of view Martin Lloyd walks the line introducing himself as a producer and writer of "Wormhole X-Treme" which brings him face to face with Vala

"Vala is that you" asks Martin

"Why Martin fancy meeting you here" says Vala

"Yea , I'm a replacement guest" informs Martin

"What does that mean?" asks Vala

"Dave always invites a few replacement guest just in case any of the big names has to cancel" explains Martin

"So David what's his name invited you" asks Vala

"Not exactly he just has an open invite on his web site and I had to fill out a questionnaire to get pre-qualified" admits Martin

"Well congratulations, Hopefully someone will miss their flight or something and you'll get your big shot." says Vala

"Well a lot of someone's have to miss cause I'm 88 on the replacement list, but I am allowed to bring a friend"

"Why thank you, but I'm not alone; This is my new boyfriend A.J. ; A.J. this is Martin" introduces Vala

"A pleasure to meet you Martin" says A.J.

"Yea, sure, Sorry I'm only allowed to bring one" says Martin

"Two!" says a Guard

From behind Martin we hear the burly voice of a bouncer type security guard making Martin look around

"You're allowed 2 friends as a replacement guest" adds the Guard

"See, He recognizes me as a potential replacement guest" gloats Martin

"He's been here bugging us for 2 weeks straight" complains the Guard

"Not everyday" says Martin

"Oh yea, I forgot about the day someone yelled "Oprah's going on live at Rockefeller Center" and before I could even turn around Martin was half a block away running at full speed" says the Guard

"When opportunity knocks" admits Martin

"Martin?" asks Vala

"Yes?" says Martin

"Are you going to invite US in?" asks Vala

"I guess, come on" says Martin

Looking at the guard"Thanks" Martin says begrudgingly

"No problem hot shot" snickers the Guard

A.J. and Vala follow Martin inside the theater where he stops at a junction in the hall

"I have to wait in the potential replacement guest room, while you get to sit in the audience section that way" says Martin pointing in the direction they need to go and he heads off the other way. A.J. and Vala enter the studio and an usher shows them to their seats

"Wow! Front row" says Vala

"As fans we'd be in heaven, but as investigators this might not give us our best vantage point; We'd be better off up there in the back" adds A.J.

Thinking quickly Vala comes up with a plan"Do you realize how suspicious we'd look if we gave up these seats to sit way back there" says Vala

"I guess you might have something there" A.J. agrees

Whispering to herself "YES!"

At that moment the director comes on stage and begins going through his check list with the crew. Valas' enamored with it all while A.J. is busy studying his surroundings. The director reaches a spot in his list that grabs both Valas' and A.J.'s attention

"Satellite uplink ready?" says the Director

The technician from the control room give his director a thumbs up making him an instant person of interest to them.

Director yells "Alright everybody, We're a go, in 5,4,3,2,1, Cue the opening music and graphics, Cue Alan with the voice over introsWith that he runs off stage headed for his perch in the control is to busy enjoying the show to notice much else. A.J. tries to get a better look at the technician without much success, so he finally decides to enjoy the rest of the show as well. They will have to stake out the back door and watch for the technician to leave.**THE HILTON-O'HARE**The scene is back at the airport hotel where Dr. Jackson and Col. MacKenzie are waiting for the camera memory card to download to Daniels' lap top. Col. MacKenzie is on the phone with Webb.

"Well once we get them downloaded Dr. Jackson should be able to translate it.(Pause to listen) If it's anything significant you'll be the next to know.(short pause) Don't call us, we'll call you"

Col. MacKenzie hangs the phone up noticeably hard

"Do I sense a history here?" ask Jackson

"Don't ask. How's it going?" MacKenzie

"Almost there" answers Jackson

"I don't know about you but I feel like a kid at Christmas" says MacKenzie

"I know what you mean" says Jackson

After a few minutes the first of the pictures start to appear on the screen and Dr. Jackson is intently staring at them. After what seems an eternity Col. MacKenzie can't stand the silence any more "Well! Don't keep it all to yourself."

"Well I'm not. So far the only thing I'm sure of is the dates" says Jackson

"Is the rest encoded" asks MacKenzie

"Yes; More or less out of necessity than security" says Jackson

"Meaning?" asks MacKenzie

"Well I can only assume that the Ancients didn't have words for even the most common locations as we now know them I.E. Chicago, New York, Or even states Illinois, South Dakota and the like, so they've used simple ancient descriptive words for them" Jackson explains

"Like the "Windy City" or "City of Angels"" asks MacKenzie

"Very Good; only we have to be even simpler they wouldn't have had words such as city or angels" says Jackson

"Has the donation plaque popped up yet ?" asks MacKenzie

"There all here, let me find it." says Jackson

Daniel keeps clicking next until the plaque appears on the screen

"Here we go, This artifact is on loan to the museum from the Smith Family of Rockford, IL and is dated 3 months ago." says Jackson"Do we know how close that is?" asks MacKenzie

"Not a clue, but we have a map site right here, let me punch it in" says Jackson

Daniel inputs the information and hits enter

"Ah! It's only about 85 miles give or take west of here" says Jackson

"That sounds like a rental car" says MacKenzie

"Yes, Well I think we should try to figure a little more of this out before we

go trying to find The "Smith" Family" says Jackson

"Ah , I see your point" says MacKenzie

"Who ever had this kept it to 30 day increments, once the last day was entered the first automatically deleted" says Jackson

"Not a lot to go on then" says MacKenzie

"Remember how much we had to go on two days ago?" asks Jackson

"Point taken" admits MacKenzie

"Let see now page 1 says they had a 3PM meeting at the mountain of little air where large birds nest" says Jackson

"Are you pulling my leg?" asks MacKenzie

"Not at all, but even you should be able to figure that one out, considering we were just there" says Jackson

"Alright, thin mountain air, big birds nesting; NO WAY, The mile high city, Denver, big birds, jets, Stapleton Int." asks MacKenzie

"Bingo" says Jackson

"They must already know about Cheyenne Mountain" says MacKenzie"I had little doubt about that; this just confirms my suspicions. The next 3 days are blank probably meaning they were there the entire time. The next entry is 8AM in the place of the beached man made whale" adds Jackson "Are you going to tell me or should I start guessing" asks MacKenzie

"My best guess is that we were less then a mile from it today" says Jackson

"The submarine at the Museum of Science and Industry" guesses MacKenzie

"Your catching on fast. OK, the next 2 days are blank then it's noon where the sun shines all day and life is very risky." reads Jackson

"The north pole?" says MacKenzie

"Excellent guess, it could also be at the other end of the earth" says Jackson

"Antarctica ? " MacKenzie says

"They both fit" says Jackson

"Actually neither do" declares MacKenzie

"Why?" asks Jackson

"The last entry was 6 months ago, correct?" asks MacKenzie

"Yes" confirms Jackson

"Which means the entry in question would have been approximately on the day of the Vernal equinox, meaning both poles were 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night." surmises MacKenzie

"I stand corrected" admits Jackson

"My turn to tease " says MacKenzie

"Go ahead" says Jackson

"Sun shine or bright lights; life is risky or a gamble" MacKenzie teases

"Vegas!" says Jackson

"Your catching on fast. " MacKenzie mocks

"I guess I asked for that." says Jackson

"If this wasn't so important, it could be fun" says MacKenzie

"That's the spirit, after all this whole thing might be nothing more then an attempt to divide and conquer." says Jackson

"Are you telling me this whole thing might have been trumped up, just to instill doubt amongst the rank and file." says MacKenzie

"It wouldn't be the first time." says Jackson

"Well if this is the only information on that thing it's useless unless we put a face to it." says MacKenzie

"And that brings us back to the Smith family" says Jackson

"Would you care to guess how many Smiths live in Rockford, IL.?" ponders MacKenzie

"I'll guess 3 to 5 hundred" says Jackson

Col. MacKenzie picks up the phone and starts to dial."It's late I'll make a car reservation for in the morning." says MacKenzie

Jackson : I'll find the menu for room service.

**BACK IN NEW YORK**

The show wraps up, A.J. and Vala exit with the rest of the audience. Once outside they take up positions across the street with a good line of sight of the stage door, hoping Martin doesn't spot them.

"I understand why we selected the satellite technician but shouldn't we be trying to see what he's doing in there" asks Vala

"I know, but we weren't in a position to do it this time; Let's see if he leads us to anyone of even more interest tonight and tomorrow we'll attempt to infiltrate the inner sanctum" says A.J.

"How?" asks Vala

"Watch and learn Vala; Watch and learn; Here comes our guy now, be ready to move quickly" says A.J.

With that the satellite technician exit's the theater and walks down the street, with Vala and A.J. a discreet distance behind. After a couple of blocks he goes into the same deli they ate at earlier.

"Somebody else likes authentic New York Deli, are we going in?" asks Vala

"Are you hungry already?" says A.J.

"No, but I could eat something in the name of intelligence gathering" replies Vala

"Alright, but it will have to be something pre-made so we can leave in a hurry if need be." says A.J.

"Fine" Vala agrees

A.J. and Vala walk into the deli separately, A.J. first and he sits in a chair by the door, then Vala who no sooner walks to the counter when she's spotted

"Hey Vala! Why didn't you guys wait for me?" asks Martin

"Martin, I thought you'd be trying to get to David after the show" says Vala

"Are you kidding after the show, Dave's a ghost" says Martin

"Well, We also had dinner reservations" says Vala "Then what are you doing here?" asks Martin

"Ah, ah, ah, It was one of those posh places and as soon as we were 2 minutes late our table was gone" says Vala

"So where's your date?" asks Martin

Before Vala can answer

"Hey! It's the soup Nazi girl, You come back for some soup? Ha ha ha" yells the same Clerk as before

Vala already knows she has drawn to much attention to herself and she doesn't want to extend that to A.J.

"Have you ordered yet?" asks Vala

"No, I was in line when I saw you" says Martin

"Come on you can buy me a hot dog from the cart on the corner" says Vala

"OK" agrees Martin

Vala and Martin walk out of the deli leaving A.J. to shadow their mark.

They walk to the street vendor on the corner and order a couple of red hots with everything and sit down on a near by bench to eat. After a few minutes the technician exit's the deli and immediately climbs into a waiting car. Leaving A.J. with no opportunity to follow, so he looks around and spots Martin and Vala eating hot dogs and walks over to them.

"I don't know if he spotted us or if he's just that paranoid" says A.J.

"OH MY GOD!' Martin yells "Your on assignment, I am so sorry"

"Don't be silly Martin, A.J. was trying to get David What's his names autograph" says Vala

"You should have said something, Dave leaves a stack of autographed pictures in the potential replacement guest room; I'll get one for you tomorrow" says Martin

Vala and A.J. need to think quickly; Because they don't want Martin around while they're trying to do recon. A.J. remembers a billboard he saw as they left the airport

"Tomorrow? I thought you'd be at the auditions"

"Auditions, What auditions?" Martin begs

"Yes, What auditions?" asks Vala

"Stan Lee is holding auditions for the upcoming season of…"

But before A.J. can finish Martin jumps in "WHO WANTS TO BE A SUPER HERO"! Damn I almost forgot, How can I ever thank you for reminding me?"

"By going there and knocking there socks off and getting on the show" says A.J.

"I need to get back to my room and start rehearsing. Thanks again BYE!" says Martin

With that Martin vanishes into the crowd

"Wow, That was a close call" says Vala

"I'm getting to old for this crap. Alright let's get back to our hotel we've got some rehearsing of our own to do." says A.J.

A.J. hales a cab and they return to their hotel. Once in his room A.J. opens his laptop and signs on to the internet, while Vala enters her room from the hall and goes directly to the door adjoining her room to A.J. s'.

"Room service?" asks Vala

"You just finished a hot dog with Martin" says A.J.

"I'll take that as a no" says Vala

"Let me see if I can get my name on the replacement guest list and then we'll see" says A.J.

"That's how your going to get us in." says Vala

"Yes, With me as a potential replacement guest and you as my friend" A.J.

"How do you get on the list?" asks Vala

"I'm going to the shows web site and filling out the application" answers A.J.

"Well Martin is a producer of that stupid cable show; What B.S. story are you going to use?" asks Vala

"Well I thought I'd go with the fact that I am a former Judge Advocate General for starters, then hit them with the fact that I was also a former Navy Seal"

"I don't know what those are, but if you think they'll believe it, go for it" says Vala

"I could promise to commit suicide right on stage" says A.J.

"No just go with the other stuff they at least sound plausible" says Vala

"Good idea" says A.J.

A.J. finishes his replacement guest application and submits it

"All we can do is wait and see if it's enough; OK, you choose room service or the dining room downstairs" says A.J.

"Don't be silly, room service of course; We don't want to miss the show when it comes on" says Vala

"Of course, silly me" says A.J. Vala hands A.J. a room service menu and she goes back to her room to get that one. When they're both ready they make the call. The meal arrives just as the show is about to start

"Are you going to put that phone down long enough to eat?" asks A.J.

"I just want to let our friends know to watch for us in the audience" says Vala

"If by some chance any of their phones are tapped you'll be letting our enemies know too." says A.J

"Sorry, I didn't think of that" apologizes Vala

Vala puts the phone down and sets herself at the table across from A.J. They enjoy their meal and the show (Again) before calling it a night.


	7. Chapter 7

**THE MORE THE MERRIER**

**BACK TO P-1953 **

The night goes by uneventfully and just as daylight begins to appear someone appears out of the shadows and sneaks their way up to where Teal'c sleeps and puts a Jaffa knife to his throat. Teal'c opens his eyes to see Master Bra'tac

"You grow soft my son, if I were your enemy" warns Bra'tac

But before he can say anything else he feels a jab at his mid-section, looking down he sees Teal'c has his knife in hand ready to strike

"Ah, maybe I should rephrase that; You sleep with that in your hand?" ask Bra'tac

"No but it is close enough that when I heard you coming 20 minutes ago I made myself ready" answers Teal'c

"Then maybe it is I that grows soft?" moans Bra'tac

"Just old, old man, just old" says Teal'c

"Why I should…" begins Bra'tac

But before he can finish he feels the point of a blade at the back of his neck

"Go on Master Bra'tac, You should what?" says Rya'c

They all have a good laugh which wakes Ishta and Col. Mitchell who exit their tents at the same time

"Where did you come from?" asks Mitchell

"I received information that a splinter group of Jaffa were headed here to assassinate the one called Adria, so I came to see if I could prevent this, since she is no longer a threat to anyone, I also did not want you to get caught in the crossfire" says Bra'tac

"I do believe we were already aware of this possibility old man" says Ishta

"You should be careful who you call old" says Bra'tac

As he says this he uses one finger and make the motion of wiping behind his ear, which causes Ishta to do the same, But her finger comes back with a red substance on it causing Teal'c and Rya'c to laugh and Ishta to growl and storm off to the brook

"What was that all about?" asks Mitchell

"You should check behind your ear as well Mitchell" says Bra'tac

He does and finds the red substance as well

"Alright ; Who's going to spill the beans?" demands Mitchell

"That is the mark of Shutsta ; It is to prove to you that the Master was able to approach you stealthily and leave the mark without you ever sensing him" explains Teal'c

"So your telling me Bra'tac made it into my tent, marked me and made it out without me ever noticing" says Mitchell

"How else would you explain the mark?" asks Rya'c

"I sure am glad He's on our side" says Mitchell

"As are we Col. Mitchell, As are we" says Teal'c

As the foursome breaks camp, Bra'tac tries out some leftovers

"It is much like Scuzzies I think" says Bra'tac

"Don't remind me, I would still like to eat breakfast" says Mitchell

With everything packed up they restart their journey southward

"We've been up for over an hour and the sun still hasn't risen" Mitchell points out

"The days here seem quite longer" says Ishta

"Let me get this straight, the days here are how much longer?" asks Mitchell

"I do not wear a watch, but I would guess about 38 hours for a full cycle" says Ishta

"Was your 2 day travel estimate normal days or 38 hour days?" asks Mitchell

"38 hour days are normal here" answers Ishta

"Bra'tac, Why couldn't you have come in a Ha'tac?" moans Mitchell

This brings smiles to everyone ,But Col. Mitchell

"Well you'd better hope those assassins didn't think of it" warns Mitchell

"I was following them and when I was sure they were headed for the star gate I jumped ahead of them and came through first, but before I left, I switched the crystals in the DHD around. It will take them some time to figure out the proper pattern." answers Bra'tac

"What if that's all it takes to change their minds into taking a Ha'tac" asks Mitchell

"Even using hyper speed it will take them almost 2 days longer" says Bra'tac

Whispering to himself Mitchell says "Who's days ours or theirs

With that the group now numbering 5 heads south. After about 6 hours Mitchell starts getting suspicious looks from the other 4

"Why are you all looking at me that way" asks Mitchell

"It has been at least 6 hours since we broke camp and ate breakfast" Ishta says

"They are wondering why you are not asking for a break for lunch" says Teal'c

"Hey, I didn't come completely unprepared" says Mitchell

Mitchell shows them the bag of raisins he's been munching on

"I should have known he could not have gone this long without something" says Bra'tac

"I'm not out here to impress anyone, but I also won't be the one that slows you down, so if snacking along the way is what it takes so be it" claims Mitchell

"So you admit that you could not keep up with the woman or the boy? Says Bra'tac"When did this turn into a contest? Besides I don't think Rya'c considers himself a boy any more and Ishta calls herself a warrior first" claims Mitchell

"As the humans say "You've really stepped in it " old man" says Teal'c

"And as someone close to me is fond of saying "Indeed"" adds Bra'tac

Everyone gets a big laugh out of that and they decide to break for a real lunch

"I shall hunt for the meal this time" insists Ishta

"NO Scuzzies" says Mitchell

"I shall try to find water" says Teal'c

"I shall gather fire wood and start a fire" says Rya'c

"I think I'll help Ishta with the hunt and before you say anything I know you don't need it; What about you Bra'tac?" says Mitchell

"As you are all so fond of pointing out I am an old man and I will rest" says Bra'tac

Everyone smiles as they head off to perform their appointed tasks and Bra'tac finds a big rock to sit on

After they've consumed their lunch they extinguish the fire and resume the trip

"Not bad even if I do say so myself; And if any of you want to tell me what that meat reminds you of Please don't." says Mitchell

This elicits smiles all around even from Mitchell himself.

**DAY 2 (EARTH DAYS)**

**ROCKFORD ROADTRIP **

The scene is Dr. Jackson and Col. MacKenzie in a rental car driving in Rockford, IL The GPS device chirps out the next step "In point 2 miles turn right on main street"

"So why the museum?" asks Mackenzie

"Well we already know they have a history of loaning artifacts to museums, Right? So why not to museums in their home town. We find something on loan from them here and ask about them" says Jackson

"Why didn't we ask about them at the Field Museum?" asks Mackenzie

"I probably would have if the intern hadn't gone crazy. You don't realize how lucky it was for us he did." says Jackson

"Lucky?" asks Mackenzie

"Extremely lucky" says Jackson

"OK I'll bite, How so?" asks Mackenzie

"OK, The readers digest version; Say the intern doesn't spot the change right away, knowing now how obsessed he is with it, he would have the minute we start asking questions about it drawing way to much attention to ourselves." answers Jackson

"If I open the dictionary to "Eternal Optimist" will I find your picture " asks Mackenzie

The GPS chirps again "arriving 737 north main street on right". They turn in, find a parking space and exit the car and walk towards the entrance.

"Things are looking up already" says Jackson

"How so?" asks Mackenzie

"It's " Free Wednesday "" muses Jackson Mackenzie shakes her head and smiles as they enter the museum. They are met by a museum volunteer

"Welcome to the museum; Is this your first time here?" asks Penny(the volunteer)

"Yes it is " answers Mackenzie

"Well you picked the right day it's " Free Wednesday ", We offer tours which start once we have the 15 person minimum unless you would like a private tour and pay the $60 fee, The tour usually lasts about an hour. There is no obligation to take the guided tour." says Penny

Dr. Jackson looks at Col. Mackenzie and she shrugs her shoulders

"Your call" says Mackenzie

"OK, We'd like a private tour please" says Jackson

"Very good that will be $65.55 cash or credit?" asks Penny

Dr. Jackson hands over his credit card. Penny runs it and hands him a copy to sign and makes a call over the PA " Tanya to the tour desk please"

In the blink of an eye the tour guide appears.

"Your lucky day; You have a private tour" says Penny

"Alright! Welcome to the Burpee Museum I'm Tanya and I'll be your guide today. Is this your first time here?" says Tanya

"Yes it is I'm Dr. Daniel Jackson and this is Sarah Mackenzie(since the Col. Is not in uniform)." says Jackson

"Alright! The last tour just left 10 minutes ago so we'll take our time to let them get ahead (Tanya whispers) 1st Graders" recommends Tanya

Simultaneously Dr. Jackson and Col. Mackenzie respond "Excellent Idea" Taking their time they just enjoy the tour while keeping an eye open for anything donated by or on loan from the Smith Family

Proceeding into the dinosaur section Sarah marvels at "Jane" the dinosaur, while Daniel walks over to a display case that is filled with all different kinds of fossils. One in particular catches his eye instantly. The plaque lists it as a prehistoric snake of unknown origin; However Daniel recognizes it as a dead Gou'ald larva and it's as no surprise on loan to the museum from the Smith Family

"pssst! (directed at Col. Mackenzie but only heard by their guide who walks over to him and from behind " Something Dr. Jackson?" says Tanya

Before he even looks to see who he's talking to

"You have no idea what we've found hear" says Jackson

"Aaaaa it says right there; It's a dead prehistoric snake" says Tanya

Looking back Daniel finally realizes he's talking to the guide

"Sorry, wrong person Sarah would you join us over here" asks Jackson

"What is it Daniel" asks Mackenzie

"Have you ever seen anything like that?" says Jackson

"Probably not; it's one of a kind or so I've been told" says Tanya

"Really ?" asks Mackenzie

"It's on loan to the museum from the "Smith Family" That's not the first artifact I've seen donated by them are they big contributors?" asks Jackson

"Kind of; he owns a pretty big antique store in town, But he's going out of business." says Tanya

"That's to bad, Not doing so well" asks Mackenzie

"Actually people come from all over just to go there" admits Tanya

"So why close?" asks Jackson

"I've heard he lost interest after his wife and son were killed in a bizarre car wreck" says Tanya

"Bizarre?" asks Mackenzie

"Yea, they were on their way to the family cabin when a truck driver going the other way apparently feel asleep at the wheel swerving into their lane; they swerved off the road right into a lake, but there were no witnesses and the truck driver was asleep so he didn't even know he'd done it. It was daylight before investigators saw the second set of skid marks and found the submerged car with the bodies." explains Tanya

"That is bizarre" agrees Mackenzie

"Shall we continue" asks Tanya

"Yes, Let's" says Jackson

They enjoy the remainder of the tour and thank Tanya for a most interesting time and ask if she's allowed to accept tips

"In lieu of tips I request my customers to put the money in the donation jar at every exit" says Tanya

"Very civic minded of you We'll do just that; Is there anything you'd like to revisit Dr. Jackson?" asks Mackenzie

"No, I think that just about does it for me, besides I'm famished." says Jackson

"Oh! Do you like microbreweries?" asks Tanya

"Yes, I do" says MacKenzie

"There's one only a couple of blocks from here it's Carlyle Brewing Co over on State St" informs Tanya

"Will it come up if I enter it into my GPS ?" asks Jackson

"Sure will" says Tanya

"Thank you again for everything bye-bye" says Mackenzie

"BYE! Enjoy the rest of your stay." says Tanya

With that Dr. Jackson and Col. Mackenzie leave the museum. Getting into their car and putting on their seat belts

"I can't believe you almost blew it Again!" says Mackenzie

"You heard me tell the intern in Chicago how often I get way ahead of myself." admits Jackson

"I guess I assumed you'd of out grown it by now" says Mackenzie

"Nope! Not yet" says Jackson

"What now?" asks Mackenzie

"I wasn't kidding, Famished, punch that microbrewery into the GPS" says Jackson

"Sounds good and then" asks Mackenzie

"I haven't seen a microbrewery that wasn't set up for the yuppie crowd, so it will probably have wi-fi and we can look up Smiths Antique store and EAT." replies Jackson"OK This is a one way so go right to your first left, 1 block, another left, 6 blocks to State St. another left cross the river and mid-way thru the 2nd block on the left, a total of .99 miles 3 minutes, we've got half a tank of gas, we're wearing sun glasses and it's sunny; HIT IT!" says Mackenzie with a hint of "Blues Brothers"

"Cute, real cute." says Jackson

"Thank you very much." says Mackenzie

With that Dr. Jackson pulls away from the museum and heads for the microbrewery. 10 minutes later and 3 trips around the block until a parking spot opens up, they park and go inside and are seated. Daniel opens his laptop and turns it on. While it boots up he peruses the menu then their waiter approaches.

"Can I get you something to drink while you decide?" asks the Waiter

"Yes, A glass of ale, something home grown, surprise me" says Mackenzie

"My, Aren't we the adventurous one" says Jackson

"I can afford to be your driving, besides now knowing what you do for a living you're the last one to talk" says Mackenzie

"Point taken" says Jackson

After ordering their meal Dr. Jackson pulls Mapquest up on the laptop

"So can I assume that it wasn't a prehistoric snake of unknown origins?" asks Mackenzie

"Oh Yea, That was a Gou'ald symbiote" answers Jackson

"Come again?" says Mackenzie

"The Gou'ald are an alien race that live within their host, mostly humans. They completely take over the body and the hosts consciousness is totally subdued. How the Smiths got a hold of it, I haven't a clue" explains Jackson

"So you're saying the symbi whatever and the tablet are related." says Mackenzie

"No Doubt; Looks like it's less then 2 miles from here, there's also a website, shall we see if the Smiths have any other unusual items in their possession." With that Daniel clicks on the hyper-text taking him to the Smiths Antiques website

"Not surprisingly they have almost 10,000 items in their on-line catalog." says Jackson

"Do you have the option to enter search parameters" asks Mackenzie

"Doesn't look like it, so it's either not sophisticated enough or he's a sly devil that wants you to have to look through it all." says Jackson

"From what we've seen so far, I really don't think he has any idea of what he has" says Mackenzie

"I concur" says Jackson

The waiter arrives with their meals and sets each in front of them

"Is there anything else I can get for you at this time" asks the Waiter

"This ale is delicious; Can you surprise me with another selection?" asks Mackenzie

"Coming right up; and you sir?" asks the Waiter

"I'm fine thank you." says Jackson

The waiter leaves to get Col. Mackenzie her drink

"After we eat we'll pay the antique store a visit" says Jackson

Enjoying their meal they pay their bill and return to the car.

**BACK IN NEW YORK**

The next morning Vala wakes up to the sounds of whistling coming from A.J.s' room. She drags herself out of bed and opens the door between rooms to see A.J. already dressed and doing calisthenics at the side of his bed.

"Isn't it a bit early for that?" asks Vala

"It's 8 o'clock, I'm usually done with these by 6 AM" answers A.J.

"Are we ordering breakfast?" asks Vala

"Well, I already e-mailed Webb with an update, so if you can get breakfast up here before he responds you might get to eat it" says A.J.

"Update? On what, we really don't have much" says Vala

"Hopefully he can get us a list of employees at the theater, I also let him know about Martin" says A.J.

"Oh, alright, Would you like me to order anything for you?" asks Vala

"No, thank you, I carry my home made, all natural, no preservatives, high energy granola bars, if your interested" says A.J.

"Thanks, but ,no thanks, I'm a pancakes and waffle kind of girl" says Vala

"Suit yourself, but when you get to be my age, that stuff goes straight to the hips" warns A.J.

Whispering to herself Vala says "I should live so long"

Vala's on the phone ordering her meal when she hears the computer announce "You've Got Mail" A.J. is in the bathroom so Vala takes a peak to see if he heard it. It appears not

"And make it snappy!" says Vala

A.J. comes out of the bathroom as Vala hangs up the phone

"Did I hear something?" asks A.J.

"Only me ordering my breakfast; Do you mind if I check my e-mail?" asks Vala

"You get e-mail?" asks A.J.

"Of course, Daniel set up an e-mail account for me a long time ago" says Vala

"OK, just shrink mine and open another window so we can hear when I get any responses" says A.J.

Vala has no idea of how to shrink anything let alone understand why opening a window will help him hear responses, but she gets up and walks over to the windows

"What are you doing now?" asks A.J.

"Did you or did you not just ask me to open a window?" says Vala

"OH for Pete's sake, are you kidding me" says A.J.

A.J. goes to the computer to shrink his window and naturally sees that he's received a couple of e-mails

"You didn't here the computer announce this?" asks A.J.

"No, I was on the phone with room service" says Vala

"Well let's see what they have for us." says A.J.

A.J. works his mouse around and opens his mail

"Well is it important?" asks Vala

"Not really, It just says they received my update and will get back to us when they have something. Well, Here's some good news at least. I've been approved as a potential replacement guest. All I have to do is jot down this confirmation code and show it at the door. It also says that if me and my guest remain behind until the audience has left we'll get a special tour and see things the public never sees." says A.J.

"I wonder why Martin never offered us that." says Vala"Because it also says to keep this offer to myself ; Not all replacement guests are made this offer." says A.J.

"Poor Martin" says Vala

"Well let's just hope Stan Lee keeps Poor Martin busy for the immediate future. I guess you'll have time to eat breakfast after all" says A.J.

"Goody" says Vala

"How about a couple of quick computer lessons while we wait, you might really need to know how to use it someday" offers A.J.

"Really? Nobody else wants me near theirs " says Vala

So while they await room service A.J. starts with the basics and Vala gets her first computer lesson.

Shortly after they finish breakfast A.J. gets another e-mail from Webb telling him they have no way of accessing the employee records at the theater or with the show, that he and Vala are on their own

"Great! A lot of help he is" says A.J.

"Who is about what?" asks Vala

"Webb says he can't get us the employee records we asked for" says A.J.

"So, tonight we take the grand tour" says Vala

"Ok, So let's work on our cover story" says A.J.

A.J. and Vala work on a cover story the rest of the morning before deciding where to go for lunch; a decision not lightly taken

"I thought you loved "Authentic New York Deli"" says Vala

"I do, just not every day, it's not as special if you do it every day" says A.J.

"But I've only done it once" says Vala

"I promise we will do it again before we leave, but right now we need to be wi-fi capable just in case something important comes through" says A.J.

"Room service or the dining room downstairs you choose" says Vala

After eating lunch in the dining room they return to the room to check the laptop before they head to the theater. A.J. finds that they haven't received anything new so he sends an update letting the SGC know that they are headed for the theater and the only way to reach them will be by cell phone until further notice

**BACK ON P-1953**

The hours seem to crawl by as they continue to walk with few breaks, all of a sudden Bra'tac yells "UNDER COVER QUICKLY!"

They all run into a patch of tall bushes just before an Ha'tac flies over

"Is it possible that there is somewhere in this galaxy that 2 days goes buy in half the time as ours?" asks Mitchell

"I fail to see the humor" says Bra'tac

"So do I Bra'tac, So do I; Any bright ideas people, I'm all ears" says Mitchell

"They may have seen us , They seem to be landing just over that ridge" says Teal'c

"We need to get to the high ground for a better vantage point" says Ishta

"Let's do it" says Mitchell

They quickly move to the top of the hill for a better look and find that the Ha'tac had landed by a group of natives traveling by wagons being pulled by oxen type animals

"Their information must be limited and they are trying to get more" says Bra'tac

"If we had some native attire we could send them off in the wrong direction" considers Mitchell

"I can not see who they are from this distance and we could not take the chance that they would not know any of us." says Teal'c

"Who would have thought being so popular would be such a curse" says Mitchell

So they decide to stay out of site and see what happens. A short time later the Ha'tac takes off and heads north, which is good news for our guys. They decide to approach the travelers to see if they put the Jaffa off on purpose or if they were just guessing. They approach the travelers and are warmly greeted.

"Peace to you fellow travelers." says a Traveler

"Peace to you also. Is that ship part of your group?" asks Teal'c

"Oh no, They were seeking information about strangers that had recently arrived on our planet; I told them that most people go to the big city to the north and that we are headed there for the fall harvest market." says the Traveler

"How far have you come?" Teal'c asks

"Little more than a days travel to the south" answers the Traveler

"Is it acceptable to stop and trade for supplies with your people?" asks Bra'tac

"Yes, It is most welcomed" says the Traveler

"Is there much need for pelts in your village" asks Ishta

Ishta holds up the pelts they have acquired to this point"Most definitely, in fact, would you be interested in looking over my harvest to see if there is anything I might trade to you for those" asks the Traveler

"A most generous offer, I would like that very much" says Ishta

Ishta and Teal'c look over the travelers goods and make a trade for some fruits that look appetizing.

"You are more then generous and we pray for you to have a successful time at the market" says Ishta

"You are most welcome and may your travels be safe ones" says the Traveler

As the traveler and his party head north towards the city our band of merry men(and warrior women)heads south toward their objective


	8. Chapter 8

**IT'S NEVER THIS EASY**

**BACK IN ROCKFORD**

Col. Mackenzie inputs the address for the store in the GPS and Daniel drives the appointed route. After pulling into the stores parking lot and finding an open space, They prepare to go in. Before getting out Col. Mackenzie pulls a small aerosol canister from her purse

"What's that?" asks Jackson

"Breath spray" says Mackenzie

"No No no don't do that" says Jackson

"Why not?" asks Mackenzie

"A little beer on the breath may give Mr. Smith the impression he has an advantage over us" says Jackson

"How do you think of these things?" asks Mackenzie

"I lay awake at night doing just that" says Jackson

"Shall we?" says Mackenzie

Exiting the car they proceed inside.

"The tour guide was right, I noticed there were a lot of out of state plates in the parking lot and it's pretty busy for a week day afternoon" says Mackenzie

"Yes; getting one on one time with Mr. Smith might be difficult." says Jackson

Spotting Mr. Smith wasn't very difficult older gentleman sitting behind the counter ; a regular throw back to the sixties, full beard, pony tail(mostly grey) wearing bib overalls and sporting a portable oxygen tank, with 3 young boys running out of the back room each carrying a new item ready to be displayed. The oldest boy has a lamp and he knows where it goes

"Thank you Christopher" says Smith

"No problem Grandpa" says Chris

The second boy has a heavy glass object

"Is this a candy dish grandpa?" asks Corey

"Well Corey I think it use to be an ashtray, but just put it with the other glassware" answers Smith

The youngest comes out with a large glass phalanx

"What is this Grandpa?" asks Logan

"Never you mind Logan , just give it here and I'll keep it behind the counter" says Smith

Observing this bring smiles to Dr. Jackson and Col. Mackenzie as they approach the counter

"So what brings a nice couple like you to the Mon-inois?" asks Smith

Don't you mean Illinois?" asks Mackenzie

"The MON is just a little catch phrase of my own doing; I can replace the first syllable or word of any state to "The Mon" like "The Montucky" instead of Kentucky"

"Why "The Mon"?" asks Mackenzie

"It's an acronym and I'll bet that once I tell you what the M stands for you'll know the rest" says Smith

"Ok; Shoot" says Mackenzie

"Middle" says Smith

In unison both Daniel and Sarah finish the line "Of Nowhere"

"Pretty simple huh?" says Smith

"Yes well I'm Dr. Daniel Jackson and this is my associate Ms. Mackenzie.

I'm an Egyptologist and the other day at the Field Museum we noticed an artifact resembling a stone tablet that you had loaned to them and then earlier today we took the tour of the Burpee museum where we saw another interesting fossil you have on loan to them." says Jackson

"So?" says Smith

"Simply put Dr. Jackson and I are very interested in tracing the origins of those artifacts." says Mackenzie

"So would I but it's just as big a mystery to me" says Smith

"Really?" says Jackson"Yep, six months ago my son took time out of his busy schedule to come visit me for my birthday(for the first time in years). He said he had a surprise birthday present but I had to wait until I made it to our cabin; He and my wife left a couple of days early to set the cabin up and… "

Mr. Smith starts to get a little emotional takes a red bandanna out of his pocket and blows his nose.

"That's when the accident happened" says Mackenzie

"Oh you know about that?" asks Smith

"Yes and we're very sorry for your loss" says Jackson

"Well all I can tell you is I found all of that stuff in his car when they brought it back; I assumed he'd collected them in his travels and they were going to be my surprise. I'm kind of a history buff. The snake fossil really got those guys at the Burpee excited but they said the people at the Field Museum would be better suited to examine the tablet. I told the both of em they could display the artifacts hoping someone would come along that might know more than they did" explains Smith

"Well I do have a history with both objects and would love the opportunity to examine them closer; Would you consider releasing them to us for that purpose?" asks Jackson

"Sure, Can't see why not, What do you want me to do?" asks Smith

"Just ask the museums to return the items to you, so you can give someone else a crack at solving the mystery" says Jackson

"If you don't mind me asking; what did your son do for a living?" asks Mackenzie

"Claimed he was a traveling salesman, never did say for who" says Smith

"Did he ever send you letters?" asks Mackenzie

"Oh Yea, see back there on the mirror; Post Cards, His mother would always hang em up right after she read them to me several times." Says Smith

Looking at the mirror Col. Mackenzie sees dozens of post cards displayed Mackenzie : Wow, He did get around

While Mr. Smith Listened to Dr. Jackson's instructions on what to do with the artifacts when he got them back, Col. Mackenzie slipped her digital camera out of her purse and took a couple of pictures of the post cards

"I can't tell how much I'm looking forward to getting a closer look at the artifacts and we'll return them to you ASAP hopefully with a better understanding of what they are and where they're from" says Jackson

"You're very welcome, like I said that's why I put em out there to begin with" says Smith

"You don't mind if I use "The Mon" thing do you" asks Mackenzie

"Don't have the copy write if that's what you mean" says Smith

"Maybe you should" says Mackenzie

"I'm not sure I'm the first to use it" says Smith

"Where do you think that was?" asks Jackson

"My best guess is around 1889" says Smith

This is where his three grandsons join in to finish the story "When the Montana entered the union"

"I guess they've heard that one a few times" says Smith

This gets a chuckle from everyone that only gets louder when the youngest Logan chimes in "Even when I was little"

"Thank you again for everything, good-bye" says Mackenzie

"You all have a safe trip now and I'll be looking forward to hearing from you real soon." says Smith

With that Dr. Jackson and Col. Mackenzie return to their car"WOW! That went way better than expected" says Jackson

"Do you have a guess as to where his son might have acquired them." says Mackenzie

"To tell you the truth, I believe they were his" says Jackson

"HIS!" shouts Mackenzie

"Yep, He was blended with either a Gou'ald or a Tok'ra, How and what he was up to is anybody's guess" says Jackson

"This learning on the fly is getting old; Tok'ra?" asks Mackenzie

"Ah Yes, I see what you mean. The Tok'ra are yet another alien race that have learned to co-exist with their symbiotes" says Jackson

"Snakes" says Mackenzie

"If that makes it easier for you. We had a working relationship with them, but they never really trusted us. They felt we were inferior and meddlesome, so they decided to break off and go it alone." says Jackson

"Do you miss their help?" asks Mackenzie

"Sometimes. A little more learning on the fly; with the symbiotes abilities the host can live for hundreds of years with no health issues, General O'Neill was mortally wounded and would not have survived had it not been for (what they call) the blending" explains Jackson

"Come again?" asks Mackenzie

"They put a snake in him, so it could heal his injuries" says Jackson

"It obviously worked, but is it still…" asks Mackenzie

"NO it's not" says Jackson

"I took a couple of pictures of the post cards they received from their son" says Mackenzie

"Why?" asks Jackson

"To help us decipher the tablets code , if we know where he's been, then those places should match" says Mackenzie

"How do you think of these things? Wait don't tell me you lay awake at night" says Jackson

"I think it's recess time" says Mackenzie

With that Col. Mackenzie turns on the radio and the announcer's hyping that nights Hockey game between their very own Rockford Ice Hogs and the Chicago Wolves. Dr. Jackson is checking his PDA

"Well we can't get a flight to Denver until mid-day tomorrow is there anything you'd like to see while were here?" asks Jackson

"Ever been to a hockey game?" asks Mackenzie

"You do realize that those are minor league teams" says Jackson

"SO" says Mackenzie

"OK, You have the GPS ….." says Jackson

Dr. Jackson and Col. MacKenzie go to the hockey game and have a great time, especially all the rowdy play including a couple of fights. Afterwards they grab a pizza and eat it on the way back to the hotel. Once there they are totally ready for bed it has been a long day

**BACK TO NEW YORK**

After the cab ride to the theater, they are still a little early so they decide to walk down to the deli and see if the technician is a frequent customer."I'll take a quick look inside" says Vala

"Oh NO you're already way to popular in there I'll take a look you wait here." says A.J.

Just as A.J. steps inside the deli Vala spots the same guy in the Yankees jersey and dress slacks carrying what appears to be coffees getting into a car about half a block away, so she decides to check him out while A.J. is inside. She walks down to the first intersection behind the car before crossing the street , so she can come up behind it. Once Vala's close enough she takes a digital camera from her pocket and snaps a few shots of the 2 men and the license plate.

While inside the deli A.J. does spot the technician sitting at a table eating lunch with someone, so he sits himself at a small table near the door to observe. This only last a minute or two before the 2 men are finished eating and get up to leave. A.J. quickly leaves first to find Vala and get the digital camera so he can get pictures of them to send back to the SGC. As soon as he's outside he tries to locate Vala but she's nowhere to be seen. He finally sees her half way down the block on the other side of the street, but she's to far away to get her attention and even if he could it would be to late the technician and friend have come out said their good-byes and go their separate ways. A.J. starts to walk in Valas direction staying on his side of the street and when he's close enough he sees her taking pictures, so he just leans back against a lamp post with his arms crossed waiting for Vala to spot him; only the guys in the car spot him looking in their direction first. They get spooked and start looking around and spot Vala. Now they are in a panic, so they start the car and take off. Vala looks to see what spooked them and sees A.J. leaning against the lamp post and gives him a wave. A.J. motions to her to head towards the theater and starts walking that way, so does Vala crossing back over at the first available opportunity. Catching up with him shortly afterwards."Any luck?" asks Vala

"Yea, all bad; What did you think you were doing?" says A.J.

"Well I saw them before they saw me, so I thought I could get some pictures of them and their car so we could find out who's side they're on" answers Vala

"Well while you wondered off I found the technician having lunch with someone." says A.J.

"Did you get any pictures?" asks Vala

A.J. stops dead in his tracks puts his hands on his hips and just stares at Vala

"What?" asks Vala

Realizing she's holding the only camera they have

"Oh, sorry, I forgot" says Vala

"Yes you did, well at least you showed a little initiative, even though I told you to ignore that guy until we needed to know." says A.J.

"I know but I thought if I got a few pictures we'd have the upper hand" says Vala

"At least we got somebody's picture." says A.J.

They continue to the theater and see that the security guard is already standing outside of the stage door entrance

"Don't tell me Martins' friends, I thought it was going to be a good day when he wasn't standing here waiting for me" says the Guard

"Well we aim to please, with any luck he won't be here for at least a couple of days" says Vala

"Or until Stan Lee throws him out. No today I'm the potential replacement guest" says A.J.

A.J. shows the guard his confirmation . And the guard checks his list"Admiral A.J. Chegwidden and you have a star next to your name" says the Guard"Meaning?" asks A.J.

"There are 2 waiting rooms for potential replacement guest the ones with a star get to go to the nicer one where Mr. Letterman actually stops by to chat for a little bit and your friends get to stay with you until just before show time and meet him as well." says the Guard

"Can I assume Martin never had a star" asks A.J.

"Good guess , hold on you'll need an escort to the right room" says the Guard

The guard pulls his radio from its holster and calls for an escort. It's only a few moments before the escort appears at the door

"Right this way Admiral" says the Escort

With that A.J. and Vala follow the escort to the nice waiting room

"Here you go; Mr. Letterman usually stops by about 30 minutes before show time to chat for a couple of minutes; there's snacks and drinks in the fridge" says the Escort

"Thank you" says A.J.

"Yes, thank you very much" says Vala

And as quick as he appeared the escort is gone

"Alright it's about 2 hours until the show starts so one of us can snoop around until Letterman shows up." says A.J.

"You know what to look for better then me so I'll wait here for Dave" says Vala

"Of course you will, but he will expect to find me here, so you'll have to stay at the door and keep an eye open for him, then call me as soon as you see him; There are no bathrooms in here, so you can tell him that's where I'm at and that I'll be right back." instructs A.J. "Got it! Get going" says Vala

A.J. sees some visitors passes setting on the table so he grabs one and clips it to his pocket as he walks out the door. The first thing he wants to get a look at is the control room where the technician works. Finding his way there he sees that it is unoccupied for the moment and goes in. examining the satellite technicians work station he spots a chart that list the settings for the satellite used by the show; He also notices the controls are not set to those coordinates, realizing he doesn't have the digital camera again, he uses a pen to write the settings on the palm of his hands. Knowing he wouldn't be able to tell if anything else was out of place he makes his way out. So far so good, he passes a couple of employees and just nods his head they pay no attention to him he finds the employee locker room and decides to take a look. Inside there are several employees including the satellite tech. A.J. sees a men's room and thinks about slipping into a stall, again he realizes he still doesn't have the camera so he works his way back to the waiting room.

"What are you doing back so soon? You still have over an hour." asks Vala

"I left without the camera again" says A.J.

"Did you get issued one of these?" asks Vala

Vala holds up here her government issued cell phone

"Yes, but I'm use to my own" says A.J.

"Yes, but can it do this?" asks Vala

Vala opens her cell turns on the camera function and "click" takes his picture

"Your telling me this now! Would you please give me the digital camera?" asks A.J.

Vala hands A.J. the camera and he turns to leave again

"Keep your eyes and ears open" says A.J. "Yes sir!" snaps Vala

A.J. makes his way back towards the employees locker room passing the stage and seeing that everyone seems to be preparing for the show to begin; even in the control room, that bodes well for him. Once inside and making sure there is no one else he goes to the locker he saw the satellite tech. standing by. Pulling a lock pick set out of his coat pocket he goes to work(we know now who taught Col. MacKenzie). In short order he has the locker open and finds a suit coat with a wallet conveniently in the inside pocket. Removing the drivers license he takes a picture of it. He also finds a DD-214 card meaning this guys ex-military. Putting everything back where he found it and returning it to the proper pocket he makes a quick check of the other pockets finding nothing but a matchbook from a gentlemen's club in Las Vegas. A.J. puts it back and closes the locker, then heads back to the waiting room. Once there he finds Vala deeply involved in conversation with none other then David Letterman himself(so much for the warning call)

"Well hopefully you're the Admiral otherwise we're going to have to send a rescue party to the men's room" says David

Vala laughs like it's the funniest thing she's ever heard

"Mr. Letterman it's a real pleasure to meet you in person, I was just by the stage watching everyone getting ready" explains A.J.

They shake hands as David looks at his watch and simultaneously there's a knock at the door

"10 minutes Mr. Letterman and you still want to visit the green room" says an Intern

"Thank you, I'm coming, Well I've already been told all the scheduled guest are here so maybe we'll get a chance to chat during the tour if you can stay afterwards" offers David

"Absolutely! We'll be here!" says Vala

Letterman gives the Admiral a salute and exit's the room "What happen to my warning call?" says A.J. "Aaaa He caught me by surprise, he came out of nowhere and from the opposite direction; Besides you should really be flattered, after reading your application Dave's considering making you a scheduled guest" says Vala

"Really? He said that? Quit trying to change the subject" warns A.J.

"Did you have any luck?" asks Vala

"Some, I got into the tech's locker photographed his license and DD-214" says A.J.

"What's a DD whatever?" asks Vala

"It means he used to be in the military" says A.J.

"Is that a good thing?" asks Vala

"If he hasn't been out to long we'll have a pretty good record on him. Well the show's going to start soon, are you going out to sit in the audience?" asks A.J.

"Nope, These couches are much more comfortable then the seats out there, plus there's all kinds of goody's in here" says Vala

"I should have brought my laptop, they might actually have wi-fi here" says A.J.

A.J. and Vala get comfortable on the couch, a drink in one hand, a snack in the other and they're ready to watch the show. Afterwards they wait for the audience to file out so they can start the tour. About 15 minutes go by when the same escort that showed them in appears at the door again.

"Hi, It's me again, Are you ready for your tour?" Asks the Escort

"Yes, Will we be seeing Dave?" asks Vala

"He's usually in his office for a while after the show to make sure the staff knows what they have to do to prepare for tomorrows show; so we probably will." says the Escort The escort leads them out to the stage where they get to sit at Dave's desk and see how he sees things; he then takes them to the control room to see where the director calls the shots. A.J. takes note of the settings on the satellite board as they now match the ones on the chart. Then they work their way to the elevator and go up a few floors, He explains that most of the staff uses this floor, including the writers.

"We're not going in there, They are already working on tomorrows jokes and if they flop they'd blame me for distracting them, so let's move on to the Man's office himself." says the Escort

"Then can we go to Dave's office?" asks Vala

"That is who I meant when I said "The Man"." explains the Escort

"You'll have to excuse Vala, she's not from the U.S." says A.J.

"Wow! I don't even notice an accent" says the Escort

"Thank you I've worked very hard to loose it" says Vala

The threesome climb back into the elevator and go up one more floor

"This floor is almost all David's, he likes his privacy." says the Escort

They approach Dave's office and knock on the door

"Come on in, I've been expecting you; Can we get you anything to drink?" asks Letterman

"Sure, a Coke would be nice" says Vala

"Well if their one of our sponsors we'll have it otherwise it might be the other guys; I can never remember which it is anymore; So, Admiral, you use to be a Navy Seal?" asks Letterman

"That's right" says A.J.

"I'll bet you've got some wild stories about that""You bet, But most of them are still classified so if I told them to you, I'd have to kill you" smirks A.J.

"You Wouldn't Dare!" screams Vala

Dave busts out laughing

"It was a joke Vala, see even Mr. Letterman knew that" says A.J.

"Sorry, I guess I still have a lot to learn about earth humor" says Vala

All of a sudden Dave's not laughing anymore

"What does she mean earth humor?" asks Letterman

A.J. busts out laughing

"Vala you are SNL material I swear" says A.J.

"But she sounded so serious" says Letterman

"I know; that's her shtick and she really nails it don't you think?" says A.J.

"No kidding, I almost believed her" says Letterman

"I really appreciate you taking time to talk to us, but I realize you're a very busy man." says A.J.

"I feel like I'm getting the bums rush admiral; are you in a hurry?" asks Letterman

"Our drinks aren't even here yet" says Vala

"No sir, I just didn't want to keep you from anything important" says A.J

Letterman : Believe me; If I had anything more important I wouldn't be here, so have a seat let's talk a bit. So Admiral, what exactly is a JAG?

"Something we do not talk about in polite company" says Vala A.J. fakes another laugh for Letterman's benefit and proceeds to explain; JAG is an acronym that stands for Judge Advocate General which simply means the head lawyer for the Navy and Marines

"Oh, That JAG" says Vala

"Kind of the Top Gun of the legal department" says Letterman

"Yes Sir" says A.J

"How do you go from being a Navy Seal to being a lawyer?" asks Letterman

"Actually it's the other way around; the Navy put me through law

School first, then to repay my obligation I chose Seal training" says A.J

"Man! Those two specialties just don't seem to go together; I can't see a lawyer getting his hands that dirty or a Navy Seal getting a weekly manicure" says Letterman

"You should have heard my mother when I told her I was going to be a Seal; She sounded more like a sailor then I did" says A.J

This gets a big laugh out of Letterman and Vala joins in to play along even though she didn't know what was so funny

"Do they really have the bell there for guys to ring when they can't hack it" asks Letterman

"During "Hell Week" Yes sir they do; Ringing that bell equates to an immediate DOR which stands for Drop- On-Request" explains A.J

"Wow! And the Marines think they're tough" says Letterman

"Only if you listen to them" says A.J

"So what brought you to our little part of the world?" asks Letterman

"I think that would be me" says Vala

"Vala's a big fan and when I saw that Martin made the list I had nothing to lose" says A.J

"Martin? Oh that little guy that says he produces some cable sci-fi show" says Letterman

"Yes; that's Martin" says Vala

"I didn't see him out there today" says Letterman

"Only because we reminded him that Stan Lee is holding auditions for his show "Who Wants To Be A Super Hero"" says A.J

"Well at least he has his priorities set" says Letterman

"From what I know of that show he just might make the cut" says A.J

"As the comic relief " says Letterman

"If you really want to get rid of him just stop by and say hi just like you did to us and he would go home feeling he really accomplished something" says Vala

"I'll actually give it some thought the next time he shows up" says Letterman

"If we hadn't run into him we wouldn't be here now" says Vala

"True enough" says Letterman

"Vala, Are you ready for dinner yet " asks A.J.

"Ooooh, Authentic New York Deli?" asks Vala

"Don't tell me that's your first choice" says Letterman

"Yesterday was her first time and I think she liked it" says A.J.

"Yes, I did" says Vala"Why don't you let me have something delivered" says" Letterman

"Are you talking about that place right next door to the theater?" asks A.J.

"Naw, Rupert already gets enough of my business; I was thinking more of the Carnegie Deli, they have this huge pastrami served open faced on a potato knish with melted Swiss

"You're making my mouth water" says A.J.

"Finish it off with a slice of New York Cheese Cake" says Letterman

"Sounds delicious let's go" says Vala

"Go, Oh no; push a few buttons order my usual times three and it will be delivered right here in 30 minutes or less" says Letterman

Pointing at Letterman's PDA

"We should have one of those" says Vala

This time Letterman laughs first actually thinking it's part of Valas' routine and the Admiral joins right in. Letterman goes to his personal fridge opens it and pulls out three brown bottles turns to offer Vala and A.J. a Grolsch beer.

"It's good to be the King" says A.J.

"Amen to that brother" says Letterman

"I have to say I'm extremely flattered by all the attention, but really why us?" asks A.J.

"Well to tell the truth the family went south to the in-laws for the holidays, so I'm a bachelor for the next few days before I join them, but really I'm enjoying your company; Am I keeping you from something?" asks Letterman

From the look in Valas eyes A.J. knows the answer, besides there's nothing more to do except e-mail an update to the SGC, which they probably wouldn't get until tomorrow anyway

"Are you kidding ; What could be better than this?" says A.J.

Vala's curiosity gets the better of her(as usual ) and she opens a rather large cabinet door exposing a couple of rows of television monitors

"Watch a lot of shows at once?" asks Vala

"Security" answers Letterman

With the flip of one switch they all come on with a live picture of various areas of the building , including the stage the green rooms and the control room, which seems to be occupied and instantly grabs Dave's attention

"Now What; We just had a meeting dealing with the inordinate amount of overtime; want to take a quick walk to surprise someone? The food is still 30 minutes away" asks Letterman

"Oooh let's" says Vala

So the threesome heads down to the control room where they find Hal the director and another guy

"Mr. Letterman, I didn't expect you to still be here" says Hal

"Obviously, Didn't we just talk about this?" asks Letterman

"The records showed technicians uploading the show to the network via satellite were responsible for much of the overtime in question; They claim the equipment was at fault, so I brought in Troy here from I.T. at network to check it out" explains Hal

"Ok, I'll bite" says Letterman

"There are a huge amount of files here that seem to have nothing to do with the uploading process; It appears that they were playing some kind on-line fantasy role playing game" says Troy"On-line role playing games are one of the most popular Trojan Horses used to gain entry to your network" says A.J.

"You've dealt with this before" asks Letterman

"Not directly; but I know a couple of Unonaughts that could go through this with a fine tooth comb and see if there's anything hinky going on" offers A.J.

"Uno what?" asks Letterman

"The very basics of computer language is 1's and 0's or Uno and Naught these geeks just put the two together for Unonaughts" says A.J.

"Cool! You can call me an Unonaught from now on" says Troy

"Alright Uni make the Admiral a copy of those files so he can get them looked at" says Letterman

"No problemo Mr. Letterman; Should I delete them all off of your system when I'm done" asks Troy

Letterman looks at the Admiral

"I'd wait to see if they are a problem first" says A.J.

"You heard the man" says Letterman

Troy finishes the copy and hands the disk to the Admiral

"There you go; just give me a call if you decide to delete them" says Troy

"We will; Thank you Troy; I guess we're through here" says Hal

Perfect timing; Letterman's PDA chimes letting him know the delivery guy from the Carnegie Deli has arrived

"Good, the food just got here; Admiral, Vala Shall we" says Letterman

The threesome heads back to the elevator and back up to Dave's office arriving just as the food does. Dave shows the delivery guy where to put it all, signs the ticket and slips him a twenty.

"Thank You very much" says the Delivery Guy ( and he leaves)

"I hope everyone's hungry" says Letterman

"It smells wonderful" says Vala

The rest of the evening is enjoyed by all, great food and even a greater exchange of stories

The Admiral and Vala finally make it back to their hotel room at 11 PM

"I'm going to download this disc to the SGC" says A.J.

"The game stuff?" asks Vala

"Apparently you don't remember Agent Webb telling us he first thought the information was an on-line role playing game" says A.J.

"So we now might have everything that went through here" says Vala

"BINGO! Who would have thought giving in to your star crossed fantasies could merit us everything we came for" says A.J.

All of a sudden Vala's not smiling

"Does that mean we're leaving?" asks Vala

"If it all checks out, I suppose so; I imagine that just means we'll be given a new puzzle to work on, who knows where we'll be off to next" says A.J.

This brings a smile back to Valas face

**BACK TO JACKSON & MACKENZIE**

The next morning neither one bats an eye until 10AM when Col. MacKenzie finally rolled out of bed and knocks on the door between the rooms. After about a minute Daniel finally answers the door

"What time is it?" asks Jackson

"It's after 10 already and unless we want to get charged for another day we have less than an hour to be checked out" informs MacKenzie

"Ok I'll be ready in less then 30; Are you going to call for a bellman?" asks Jackson

"Oh yea, I'm in no mood to haul our luggage around" says MacKenzie

"Alright, just knock when he gets here" says Jackson

Dr. Jackson closes the door and they are both off to the races to be ready in time. Eventually Col. MacKenzie knocks on the door to let Daniel know that the bellman has arrived. They load their luggage onto the bellman's cart and head for the lobby. Once there they check out and switch their bags to an airport cart which is conveniently in the hotel lobby. They take the elevator to the lower level where the underground crosswalk to the main terminal is. After checking in their bags they have just enough time to grab a cup of coffee and a donut at one of the snack bars on the way to the gate. By the time they reach the gate boarding is already underway so they have to woof down the donut and drink as much as they can before the last call for boarding is made. Once on board and seated they're both ready for a nap

"Well if I don't fall asleep before we get off the ground I suppose we could try to match up some of those post cards to the descriptions on the tablet" says Jackson

"You go right ahead; I'm going to ask for a blanket and a pillow; Besides wouldn't it be much easier to do that on a big screen where we could have all the different post cards displayed as well as the translated descriptions?" asks MacKenzie

"Good point, so a blanket and a pillow it is" agrees Jackson

The plane is barely off the ground and not even at altitude before this dynamic duo is out cold for the duration of the flight. The flight attendant actually has to wake them so they can bring their seats back to the upright position for landing. Once off the plane they look at the board to see where they need to be for the puddle jumper back to Colorado Springs Municipal Airport, once spotted they head that way, because there's only a short wait before it takes off. Just as before the short trip takes no time what so ever, Colorado Springs Municipal Airport isn't very busy, so their luggage makes it in faster then they do and the Airman that was sent to pick them up is already picking it out

"Airman Fraser has picked me up enough times he knows my bags by heart" says Jackson

"Col. Mackenzie's were right next to yours so I grabbed them to, hope you don't mind" says Fraser

"Absolutely not; We're ready to be out of here" says MacKenzie

All loaded up they make the trip back to the SGC


	9. Chapter 9

**SCUZZIE PELTS?**

**BACK TO P-1953**

The sun finally appears to be setting and it's time to make camp and begin to think about tonight's dinner as well as what pelts seemed to be worth more

"I hate to say it, but they seem to prefer the scuzzie pelts" says Mitchell

"Indeed, Rya'c and I will set as many traps as we have supplies for" says Teal'c

"How many do we need?" asks Bra'tac

"Only enough to make us look like genuine traders while we search for the ladies" says Mitchell Approximately ten traps are set and while the tents are set-up and the rest of the meal is prepared at least half of the traps have done their job, so while Mitchell turns the first four on the spit Teal'c, Bra'tac and Ishta skillfully skin the rest while Rya'c resets the traps.

"You have never done anything like this Col. Mitchell?" asks Teal'c

"I plucked a chicken once, on my uncles farm, does that count?" answers Mitchell

"Are you the one that put the animal down?" asks Bra'tac

"NO WAY, Just thinking about how that chicken jumped around without its' head for almost 5 minutes, still gives me the heebee jeebees" shudders Mitchell

Everyone enjoys a big meal of Scuzzie like meat with fresh veggies as well as fresh fruit for dessert

"I don't think I eat this much on thanksgiving" says Mitchell

"What is this Thanksgiving?" asks Ishta

"It's a holiday on earth where we all eat to much and watch lots of football" says Mitchell

"We have many holidays where we eat to much, we do not do football" says Ishta

"I will have to show you football when you come to earth; it is a fierce battle waged between to groups of very large warriors" says Teal'c

"Larger than you?" Asks Ishta

"Much" says Teal'c

Rya'c stokes the fire one more time before he, Teal'c and now Bra'tac spread their bedding out under the stars, While Mitchell and Ishta go to their respective tents. All looking forward to a good nights sleep.

The next morning Mitchell is awaken by the sound of voices. He exits his tent to find Teal'c, Rya'c and Bra'tac are once again skinning more Scuzzies for their pelts.

"Does this holiday include to much sleep as well human?" asks Bra'tac

"You betcha! I don't see Ishta" says Mitchell

"Ishta was up before all of us and has went ahead to scout the village" says Teal'c

"Should she have gone alone?" asks Mitchell

"After being embarrassed by Bra'tac with the Shutsta there was no stopping her" says Teal'c

"I hear that. How far out do you think we are?" asks Mitchell

"Only a few hours" says Rya'c

"What do you need me to do?" asks Mitchell

"You can put your tents away, since you are the one that needs them to sleep" says Bra'tac

Mitchell knows better then to argue the point, so he does just that and as soon as he's finished the pelts are ready as well and everyone is prepared to move on to the village. After about two and a half hours Bra'tac hears the Ha'tac again and warns the others to take cover just as before

"Surely you would have thought it would have taken more time to search the entire city" says Bra'tac

"Maybe they came across another farmer at the market that knew of the woman's arrival here" says Teal'c

"Perhaps, We can only hope Ishta hears their approach as I and is able to take cover" says Bra'tac

When the Ha'tac has passed they return to the road and pick up the pace, to get to the village as soon as possible. As they crest yet one more ridge they are overlooking the village with the Ha'tac parked just outside of town. They decide to hug the tree line in hopes of not being spotted for as long as possible. As they reach the end of the tree line at the edge of the village Teal'c and Bra'tac split off to circle around to the other side while Mitchell and Rya'c walk in right down main street like they own the place with each one carrying a bundle of pelts over their shoulder. There they are met by one of the villagers

"Peace be with you friend" says the Villager

"Right back at you" says Mitchell

"And with you also" adds Rya'c

"Your companion speaks strangely" says the Villager

"He is an offworlder" says Rya'c

"Oh my, what brings you to our small village?" asks the Villager

"We were told you have a need for pelts and have a big harvest to trade with" says Mitchell

"That is true" says the Villager

"We saw a ship on the edge of town, do you get traders from that far away often?" asks Mitchell

"Never, That ship arrived this very morning, looking for strangers they claim are wanted on many planets" says the Villager

"Are those strangers here?" asks Mitchell

"There are two strangers that arrived many days ago, but I do not believe them to be criminals They had nothing but the clothes on their backs and were almost starving. We fed them and in return they have helped out wherever they could. We hid them when a stranger was seen sneaking around the village very early this morning, we believe her to be with the ship" explains the Villager

"That is very generous of you. Maybe we can help you sneak the ladies out of town, before the strangers find them." offers Mitchell

"I am preparing to head to the harvest market in the big city, but if you go to the inn at the center of town and ask for Friar Duncan and tell him farmer Cristobal sent you and explain your offer to him." says the Villager

"We'll do just that, thank you" says Mitchell

"And may your trip to the harvest market be safe and fruitful" says Rya'c

"Yes , that too" adds Mitchell

"Thank you and I hope you can help save those woman from those warriors" says the Villager

The villager continues on his way as Mitchell and Rya'c head for the inn.

Mitchell and Rya'c go no more then a block further and hear Ishta

"Pssst!" whispers Ishta

Hoping only they heard her. They are and go into the alley she's hiding in

"Your stealth maneuvers need a little work" says Mitchell

"I believe I was spotted by some priest when I first arrived, But he ignored me and went about his business" says Ishta

"Oh yea he spotted you alright and the first thing he did was go to the inn and put his guest into hiding. They believe you're with the warriors in the ship looking to capture the ladies" says Mitchell

"At least I was able to keep the rebel Jaffa from finding me" says Ishta

"We offered to help the ladies escape and were told to go to the inn. We were also given a couple of names to grease the wheels" says Mitchell "Then what are we waiting for" says Ishta"Oh no, you need to stay in the shadows; they already think your one of the bad guys. Teal'c and Bra'tac circled the village and are approaching from the other side; see if you can head them off before they are spotted. When we know more Rya'c or I will try to call you" says Mitchell

"Very well; I'm sure they will get a big laugh as well" moans Ishta

"We won't tell if you don't, right Rya'c?" promises Mitchell

"It will be our secret" says Rya'c

Ishta snarls a little bit but nods her head in agreement before taking off to find the others. Mitchell and Rya'c continue down the street to the inn. When they get there Mitchell sneaks a peak in the window and sees the rebel Jaffa questioning the Friar, so he motions to Rya'c to follow him to the rear of the inn. Once there Mitchell sees the Inns stables and decides to check them out while the Friar is otherwise engaged

"Does something smell funny to you and I don't mean the horse hockey" asks Mitchell

"What is this horse hockey?" asks Rya'c

Mitchell continues to snoop around

"You know, droppings" says Mitchell

"Oh you mean crap or shit correct; Father had taught me these terms but he said hockey was a sport, played by warriors on blades of steel" says Rya'c

"He's right of course; but I'm smelling something like perfume" says Mitchell

Mitchell sticks his head into one of the stalls as Rya'c tries to warn him

"MITCHELL LOOK OUT!" yells Rya'c

To late as Mitchell is hit over the head with a shovel an knocked out cold. Rya'c scream was heard all the way into the inn and brings the rebel Jaffa running to find Morgan la Fay standing over Col. Mitchell with the shovel and Rya'c at the door.

"Are you not Rya'c son of Teal'c? and who is this woman?" asks Jaffa1

"I believe she is one of the villagers" says Rya'c

"Who is the one she hit?" asks Jaffa2

"That is Mitchell of SG-1" says Rya'c

"What of Teal'c, they rarely travel separately" asks Jaffa1

"My father was on a mission to negotiate a treaty between two other factions of Jaffa" says Rya'c

"He always was meddlesome. We seek the one called Adria is she with you?" asks Jaffa1

"No; we were seeking her also" says Rya'c

"Woman why did you hit this man?" asks Jaffa2

"I thought he was trying to steal one of the animals" says Morgan

"Bring them all inside and see if they have any useful information to offer up for their freedom" says Jaffa1

The Jaffa pick up Col. Mitchell and lead the rest back into the inn. The two Jaffa carrying Mitchell put him on a table and pour a pitcher of water over his head; which brings him around coughing and spitting out water.

"Anyone get the number of that truck?" asks Mitchell

"I know of no truck Mitchell. What are you doing here?" asks Jaffa1

"Since when do I have to explain myself to you?" scoffs Mitchell

"Do you know if the one called Adria is here or not?" asks Jaffa1

Mitchell looks around the room and sees Rya'c standing by Morgan la Fay As well as the three other Jaffa( but no Adria)

"We heard rumors that's all. Who hit me?" asks Mitchell

"The village woman hit you for trying to steal the live stock" says Jaffa1

"Lady do I look like a rustler to you?" asks Mitchell

"I do not know what that is, but you do look like a thief" says Morgan

"I do not think they believe me when I told them my father was negotiating a treaty either" says Rya'c

Mitchell takes the hint "They're lucky he is otherwise he wouldn't take to kindly to being treated this way and I wouldn't want to be you guys when he finds out"

The scene switches to outside of the inn with a female leaning over by a back window trying to look in without being seen when Teal'c sneaks up behind her, cups one hand over her mouth to keep her quiet and the other around her waste to grab her. Teal'c carries her into the barn where Bra'tac and Ishta are waiting.

"Do not scream, We are her to help you and the other one." says Bra'tac

Teal'c slowly removes his hand from Adrias' mouth, ready to clamp it again if she even thinks about screaming

"It would not be beneficial for me to scream would it Teal'c?" says Adria

"Not unless you think those rebel Jaffa would treat you better than we will" says Teal'c

"They seek to give you sanctuary; Where as life imprisonment would suit me just fine" snarls Ishta

"I don't even know you" says Adria

"But there are millions who know of you and the devastation that followed in your wake" argues Bra'tac

"Of that I am sure and there is no way I can ever make that up to them" says Adria

"We hope to give you the opportunity to give closure to many that still have no idea whatever happened to loved ones" says Teal'c

"Even I do not have all the answers" admits Adria

"Where are Rya'c and Mitchell?" asks Bra'tac

"The Jaffa have them inside, as well as Morgan la Fay" says Adria

"How did this happen?" asks Teal'c

The Friar had hidden us out here when he had spotted that one ( pointing at Ishta) skulking around the village. Then we heard someone coming into the barn and hid in the stall, When someone stuck their head in the door Morgan hit him with the shovel; It was Mitchell. The Jaffa heard the noise and came out finding everyone but me, since I was still hidden. The Jaffa are now interrogating them in the inn" explains Adria

"Do they know who Morgan la Fay is?" asks Teal'c

"No, The boy told them she was one of the woman from the village, they believed her when she told them she thought Mitchell was trying to steal the stock. I also overheard The boy tell them that you(talking to Teal'c) were on another planet mediating a dispute between some other Jaffa" says Adria

"The Young Man you speak of is Teal'cs son Rya'c. Why do we wait? There are only four of them" says Bra'tac

"Do you wish to kill them?" asks Teal'c"Not at all just subdue them" says Bra'tac

"They would then know we have the woman and that is something we can not have happen" says Teal'c

"What is your plan then?" asks Ishta

"We wait to see if the rebel Jaffa believe that Mitchell and Rya'c indeed have no idea where you are and that no other villagers give Morgan la Fay away" says Teal'c

"We should assume defensive positions in case they come back to do a more through search of the barn, the loft perhaps" says Bra'tac

"We need some way to hear what is going on in there" says Teal'c

"I did not recognize any of them, Perhaps they do not know of me either" says Ishta

"Your attire would give you away" says Bra'tac

"I am not an idiot, I would trade clothes with this one( directed at Adria)" says Ishta

"You will need some kind of head covering to hide your brand" says Teal'c

"Have you seen any of the other women wearing such head pieces?" asks Bra'tac Directed at Adria

"Not that I have seen" says Adria

"A chance we will have to take" says Teal'c

"I could take these beasts out to the edge of town and set them free, Then Ishta could go in under the pretense of alarming the Friar that two women had just rode off on his beast." says Bra'tac

"I believe they would only send two of the men after them and that they would use the Ha'tac. It would be a short time before they discovered the rouse" says Teal'c adding "I believe just letting her be our ears for now will be enough"

Teal'c and Bra'tac have been keeping a vigilant eye on the inn and when they turn around Ishta and Adria have already traded clothes and Ishta is fashioning a barn cloth into a head covering

"The villager that gave me those clothes was called Micah, You should be able to use that name safely" says Adria

"We had heard you came by the clothes in a different way" says Teal'c

"Alright, we took them, but when she saw we had nothing else she said we could keep them" says Adria

"That matters little right now, I will make my way around to the front before entering and I will only engage them if I am discovered " says Ishta

"I guess it is the best we hope for at this time. Take care Ishta" says Bra'tac

"If they decide we have nothing useful and go I will be the one to come and let you know; If you here them leave and anyone but me comes out you should consider it a trap" says Ishta

"Understood" says Bra'tac

With that Ishta sneaks out the back door of the barn and makes her way around to the front door of the inn. She checks her head wear to make sure her brand is hidden and as she enters before seeing anyone

"Friar Duncan it is I Micah I have come for our meeting (then as she is in full view of everyone) I am sorry for interrupting, I did not know you had visitors" says Ishta

"That is quite alright madam come right in, These men are looking for two women they had heard were here (directed at the rebel Jaffa) These other two have pelts which I believe they were seeking to trade for some of our bountiful harvest; Farmer Seabrook's wife Krista and I have told them there have been no strangers in town recently; I mean other than them" explains The Friar

"I had heard rumors that Farmer Cristobal had taken in two strangers to help him with his harvest; which is why he was finished so soon and already headed to the market days ago" says Ishta

"How long ago was this?" asks Jaffa1

"Maybe two days ago; He should almost be there by now"

"Should we go back to that market?" asks Jaffa2

"It was a farmer at the market that said he thought they were here" says Jaffa1

"He probably sent you on a wild goose chase to give them a chance to get through the gate" says Mitchell

"This could be so" says Jaffa1

"How about a lift back to the gate?" asks Mitchell

"We should leave them here; if we take them they might find her first" says Jaffa2

"I am sorry I can not take the chance" says Jaffa1

"Hey you can't blame a guy for trying" says Mitchell

"Besides you haven't even made the trades for your pelts" says the Friar

"Maybe we could conduct our business over a hot meal; we have fresh meat that needs to be cooked before it spoils" suggests Mitchell

"You are welcome to stay for the meal(directed at the rebel Jaffa) says the Friar

"Your offer is a generous one, but we must get to the city before they make it thru the gate" says Jaffa1 "Suit yourself; Krista will you fetch some water while I start a fire?" asks the Friar

"My pleasure Friar" says Morgan

Ishta spots a Gou'ald long range listening device perched up on the fireplace mantle and knows they plan to eavesdrop even after they leave.

"I will help Krista" says Ishta

"You can put the meat into the cauldron, it will be the start of a wonderful stew" says the Friar

"Enjoy your meal; we will take our leave" says Jaffa1

As the Last of the Rebel Jaffa exit's the inn Ishta is standing right in front of the fireplace and holds a finger to her lips making sure everyone sees, then she points up; Mitchell and Rya'c both spot the device and walk towards her

"Let's put this meat in the cauldron and then we can all help with the water, we're going to need a lot of it" says Mitchell

"That sounds like a splendid idea" agrees the Friar

After putting the meat into the cauldron they each grab a wooden bucket and head for the well. Just outside the inn they watch as the Jaffa board their ship and just as fast as they appeared the Rebel Jaffa are gone.

"Is it safe out here?" asks the Friar

"It should be, the device can not see or hear through walls" says Ishta

"Nice catch Ishta" commends Mitchell

"That thing is some kind of spying device?" asks the Friar

"Yes, they will be able to hear everything we say and see everything we do within those walls" says Rya'c"What shall we do?" asks the Friar

"Now that we know it's there, we can put on a good show for them" answers Mitchell

"By the time we are finished, they will be convinced that the woman are no longer here; I must go inform Teal'c and Bra'tac to make sure neither they or Adria goes inside of the inn" says Ishta

"Well we need to keep up appearances for now so let's get some water and get dinner started" says Mitchell

"What should we say" asks the Friar

"Right now we'll just talk about trading our pelts for your fruits and veggies" says Mitchell

While Ishta goes to the barn to inform the others of what has transpired, Mitchell, Rya'c, Morgan and the Friar fill their buckets from the well and carry them back to the inn.

Ishta enters the barn and announces that it is indeed her. "Do not worry it is I"

Teal'c and Bra'tac reveal themselves from behind stall walls and Adria peaks out from her perch in the loft.

"Are Rya'c and Col. Mitchell unharmed?" asks Teal'c

"Everyone is fine" says Ishta

"Are they convinced that the women are not here" asks Bra'tac

"Not completely; they left a Gou'ald long range device planted in the inn, so you three must not go in there, While the rest of us put on a show for them and make the evening meal. Afterwards we will get food out to you" says Ishta

"Must we sleep in the barn as well?" asks Adria"There is a back stairway to the inns upper floor; I am sure we will be able to sneak you up there after dark" says Ishta

"In all the confusion I neglected to ask if I am being protected from them just so you have the pleasure of punishing me?" asks Adria

"I would have felt no remorse if they had found you" admits Ishta

"Nor I" adds Bra'tac

"You can only imagine the terrible atrocities we have all committed in the names of our false Gods; However you also will find it hard to believe that the ones you hurt the most will be the ones to forgive you first" says Teal'c

"Those Jaffa did not look to interested in forgiving me" says Adria

"Neither am I at this moment, but in time (probably a very long time in some cases)Most of your enemies will" says Bra'tac

"The road to absolution will be the hardest one you will ever travel and you will soon discover the person that resist the most to forgive you will be You" says Teal'c

Back inside the Inn Mitchell is starting the fire while Rya'c and Morgan prepare the vegetables to put into the stew; meanwhile the Friar is going through the pelts to access their value for trading purposes

"These are very skillfully done sirs very skillfully indeed" says the Friar

"All the credit for that goes to Rya'c" says Mitchell

"Well young man who taught you to skin a pelt so well, Your father?" asks the Friar

"My father traveled very much, so my Godfather taught me; just as he had taught my father before me in the absence of his father" says Rya'c

"Your Godfather taught you well, as it appears you hold no ill will towards your father for not being there" says the Friar "It was not always that way; but I have come to realize that we would still be the slaves of the Gou'ald if it had not been for my fathers courage" says Rya'c

"I am of the impression that you too were after this woman the Jaffa are, do you wish to harm her as well?" asks the Friar

"No sir, We're hoping she will help us find out what happened to the people she had imprisoned and others that have been missing for so long; If people know the answer , even if it's the worst , they can begin the grieving process" says Mitchell

"A most admiral stance especially for two so young" says the Friar

"Did he just call me young?" asks Mitchell

"Do you really want me to answer that?" says Morgan

"No, Ms Krista, That's quite all right" says Mitchell

"Young Rya'c will you assist me with feeding the animals in the barn?" asks the Friar

"Yes Friar I would enjoy helping" says Rya'c

"I do like his attitude and you two can keep an eye on the stew, just stir it once in a while" says the Friar

"Aye, aye sir" says Mitchell

"What does that mean?" asks Morgan

"Yes, We will" says Mitchell

Friar Duncan and Rya'c walk out the back door toward the barn

"I just needed to see for myself that my other guest is alright" says the Friar

"You will also meet my father and Godfather" says Rya'c They approach the barn door and knock as they enter

"Is it safe to come in" asks the Friar

"Yes Friar, come in. I would like you to meet our companions this is Rya'cs father Teal'c and Master Bra'tac" says Ishta

"I am very happy to make your acquaintance, Your son speaks very highly of the both of you" says the Friar

"As we are happy to meet the man willing to risk harm by protecting two strangers" says Teal'c

"It is a Friars duty to offer sanctuary and I know how to do my job" says the Friar

"I know you have just started making the evening meal, but might you have some bread or fruits to hold us over until it is ready, we have had nothing since first light" asks Bra'tac

"How rude of me, I knew there was another reason for wanting to come out here" says the Friar

The Friar uncovers the bucket he carried out with him as it is full of just that, bread, fruit and even cheeses. This brings smiles to a bunch of hungry people, so they dig right in.

"Master Bra'tac how long do you think we will need to keep up the illusion, before the Jaffa assume that the women have gone through the gate" asks Teal'c

"How long would they have to wait for us to give up?" says Bra'tac

"You truly believe that their resolve is comparable to ours?" says Teal'c

"I think not, but they will not give up, If they are made to believe that there has been enough gate activity to warrant assuming the women have left the planet, they will take their search elsewhere." says Bra'tac

"Our performance here will go a long way to convincing them of that fact, as long as they do not find Farmer Cristobal directly" says Ishta

"Ah, I can assure you that will not happen" says the Friar

"How?" asks Teal'c

"We are not so backwards here as one might think; We made up the name Cristobal, so that if anyone came asking for him or claimed they were sent by him; we would know to be suspicious." says the Friar

This brings a chuckle to everyone

"We must now return to the inn before who ever is watching us gets suspicious" says Ishta

"I imagine that the majority of our conversation will be about pelts for harvest trades" says the Friar

"Not to mention the wonderful meal we will soon partake of" adds Rya'c

"Speaking of that, unless you wish to suffer the same embarrassment of the Shutsta you won't forget us when that meal is ready" says Bra'tac

This brings on another round of chuckles from those in the know, then the Friar, Rya'c and Ishta return to the inn, while the others make quick work of the bucket of food

Back inside the Inn Mitchell and Morgan la Fay are still peeling and slicing veggies as the others return

"Thank you both for the help, it usually takes an old man like me a lot longer to do those chores" says the Friar

"You are most welcome" says Ishta

"My motives were a little bit more selfish" says Rya'c

"And what might those be my son" asks the Friar

"I knew that I wanted to work up a big appetite for tonight's meal" says Rya'c

"I believe you did just that" says the Friar

So the conversation centered around pelts for harvest trades, until the meal was ready to eat.

As each person walks over to the cauldron where they know they are out of the devices view they make up two bowls each, one for themselves and one for a person in the barn. They then slide along the back wall and set the extra bowl on the back window sill before sliding back to the cauldron picking up their bowl and taking it back to the table to sit and begin eating. It doesn't take long before the group in the barn begins to smell the aroma emanating from the Inns window and realize that the dinner bell has rungAfter everyone has enjoyed a delicious meal Rya'c and Mitchell each grab a bucket and head to the well for water to wash the dishes with, while the Friar swings the huge cauldron around off of the fire and hangs a smaller one in its' place to heat the dish water. He(the Friar ) tells the ladies that leftovers are usually fed to the livestock, however there isn't going to be enough to make it worth the trip to the barn; which garners a giggle from them

"Well, It may not be much, but we would not want it to go to waste, so go ahead and take it to the barn and see if any of those animals want it(with a wink of an eye and a rye smile)" says the Friar

The ladies scoop up the leftovers into two bowls and head out to the barn. Once there they ask if anybody's ready for more. The universal response is we're full and so the actual animals get in on the good stuff for tonight

"As soon as we do the dinner dishes we will blow out most of the candles making it to dark to tell who's who, then we will be able to sneak all of you in and to the upper floor to the beds" says Ishta

"What do those beds have to offer that this pile of straw doesn't?" asks Bra'tac

"As for you nothing for the smell remains the same, However I look forward to clean sheets and a much less pungent odor" says Adria

This sends Teal'c and Ishta into hysterical laughter

"Let he who is not in need of a bath cast the first stone" says Bra'tac

With that everyone is laughing out of control as Ishta and Morgan head back in to help with the dishes

Once back inside Ishta and Morgan find Rya'c ladling hot water from the small cauldron into a wash basin for the dishes, the Friar is sweeping the floor and Mitchell is rebundling the pelts

"Looks like we are just in time" says Morgan

"Did the animals enjoy their meal?" asks Mitchell

"They were most satisfied" says Ishta

Morgan whispers to Ishta "I have no idea of what I'm suppose to do

"OK, I will wash the dishes, you take the towel and dry them, Rya'c can stack and put them away" says Ishta

"What about me?" asks the Friar

"A nice warm brew or tea before going to bed would be nice" says Ishta

"Done!" says the Friar

"I can't wait to see what you have planned for me" says Mitchell

"Somebody has to restock the wood pile for the fire place" says Ishta

"The fresh air will do me good" says Mitchell

"The stock pile is in the barn" says the Friar

"Is there a wheelbarrow?" asks Mitchell

"Yes, It is out there too" says the Friar

With an awful imitation of the "Terminator"

"I'll Be Back" says Mitchell

Of course nobody there has ever heard of the "Terminator" so he get's no response.

"Rough crowd" says Mitchell

As he walks out the door. Mitchell makes his way to the barn; upon entering he finds Teal'c, Bra'tac and Adria relaxing on the pile of straw

"Where were you when I was getting bushwhacked?" asks Mitchell

"What is this "bushwhacked"?" asks Bra'tac

"Morgan knocked him cold with a shovel to the back of the head" says Adria

"We arrived just as you were being carried into the Inn by the Jaffa" says Teal'c

"Then this woman was standing at the rear window trying to look in" says Bra'tac

"I needed to know if I was going to have find another place to hide" says Adria

"Well everything's cool now, as long as we don't screw up in front of the camera. Of course all you have to do is stay away from it; You guys see the wheelbarrow?" asks Mitchell

"There is one back by the wood pile" says Teal'c

"Which is what I'm suppose to return with" says Mitchell

"A wheeled barrow?" asks Adria

"Firewood actually." says Mitchell

"How long before the lights are turned down, so I can go in? It is getting chilly out here" asks Adria

"Is that the plan? Sneak you guys in after the lights are dimmed" asks Mitchell

"Master Bra'tac and I will remain out here and keep watch" says Teal'c

"The animals are most sensitive and will alert us to anyone approaching" says Bra'tac

"How long do you think we will need to keep this up?" asks Mitchell

"The last thing we need is to be found out in the open going back to the Stargate, So I believe giving it one more day would be the prudent thing to do" says Teal'c

Mitchell and Teal'c have been loading the wheelbarrow with firewood as they talk and it is now full

"Roger that; I guess I'd better get this firewood back in, then someone will come for Adria when the coast is clear"

Bra'tac holds the barn door open for Mitchell to leave and they exchange goodnights just in case it isn't him that comes for Adria

"What does a clear coast have to do with my being able to go in" asks Adria

Teal'c and Bra'tac chuckle

"It is just an earth expression meaning when it is safe for you to enter" says Teal'c

"Why does he not say that?" says Adria

Mitchell enters the Inn thru the front door which is large enough to allow the wheelbarrow in and right up to the fireplace for stacking.

"My I never realized a good meal could get me so much assistance" says the Friar

"They say an army travels on its' stomach" says Mitchell

"The dishes are washed, dried and put away we now have enough firewood to last a couple of days, is there anything else we need to do before we turn in?" asks Ishta

"Not that I can think of" says the Friar

"Then while you turn down the lamps I will take the wheelbarrow back to the barn and make one last check on the animals before turning in for the night" says Ishta

"Very well I will show our guests(Mitchell and Rya'c) to their room" says the Friar

Ishta walks out the front door with the wheelbarrow and Friar Duncan turns down all but one lamp in the hall to the second floor.

Once at the barn she asks if they need anything else before she sneaks Adria inside to a bed. Teal'c and Bra'tac have already spread their bedding across the straw and are ready to turn down the lamp, so they bid each other goodnight and Adria joins Ishta to head back inside. Once in the back door they go straight up the stairs where Friar Duncan is waiting to show Ishta to a room

"Adria already knows where her room is, so I will show you to the last empty one; Good night Adria" says the Friar

"Thank you for everything Friar good night" says Adria

"You know you are quite welcome; Here we are Micah" offers the Friar

The Friar opens the door to the room "Thank you Friar; you might as well know my real name is…" Ishta starts

Before she can finish

"No, No, As long as Micah is all I know I won't blurt out the wrong one at an inappropriate time" says the Friar

"Very well, Good night Friar" says Ishta

"Good night, sleep well" says the Friar

The Friar goes back down stairs to his room and everybody's down for a well deserved good nights sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

**GENERAL MAYHEM**

**BETA-SITE CALL IN**

The scene is Star Gate Command in the infirmary Col. Carter, Dr. Lam and Sgt. Harriman looking at a small canister, when the alarm goes off along with the well known announcement "unscheduled gate activation, unscheduled gate activation "as the three automatically head for the gate control room. As they enter the control room, Sgt. Syler is at the consol

"What do have Sgt.?" asks Carter

"It's the Beta Site again" moans Syler

Syler relinquishes the chair to Walter

"We're receiving a transmission Col." says Walter

"Put it up." says Carter

On the screen are both Generals O'Neill and Landry. They both start to talk at once, making it impossible to understand either of them.

"Generals, What can we do for you today?" asks Carter

Injecting his seniority is General Landry.

"AHEM! (O'Neill backs off ) Thank you, Col. Carter I hope you have something substantial to give us today." says Landry

"I'm sorry sir the investigation is ongoing and I can only give you what they give me and right now…" Carter stops mid-sentence as large bold flashing graphics flash across the screen , one large word at a time HELP!…THEY…ARE…DRIVING…US…CRAZY!Carter, Lam and Harriman's eyes all go wide at first but as the words continue to flash they are besides themselves trying to keep from bursting out laughing.

"You were saying Col." says Landry

"Sorry sir, lost my train of thought" says Carter

The threesome continue desperately told hold back the snickers which doesn't go unnoticed

"You find all this humorous Col." says Landry

"No sir of course not" says Carter

Dr. Lam interrupts

"I'm sorry sir that's my fault, We were all just in the infirmary where we discovered this leaking canister( showing the Generals the canister she was still holding ) Nitrous Oxide" says Lam

"To bad I could have used a good laugh" says O'Neill

"Sorry sirs , but as I was trying to say Daniel and Col. Mackenzie are following up leads in Chicago, Vala and Admiral Chegwidden are doing the same in New York City" says Carter

"I apologize if I was a little brusque Col. We're all just pulling out what little hair we have left waiting for answers." says Landry

"We understand sir." says Carter

"Well keep us updated whenever you have news Please" says Landry

"When We have anything you'll be the next to know." says Carter

"Beta Site out." says Landry

The screen goes dark and the gate disconnects

"Isn't there suppose to be a huge lake about 20 clicks from the Beta Site" asks Carter

"Understood Col. I'll get right on it" says Walter

With that Walter gets up and leaves the control room

"I hate when he does that" says Lam

"You'll get used to it He's our very own "Radar O'Harriman"" says Carter

**GATE ROOM SEND OFF**

The scene is the gate room Col. Carter and Dr. Lam await the arrival of Sgt. Harriman. The gate room door opens and in drives Walter in an over sized golf cart pulling an ATV utility trailer overflowing with all kinds of gear.

"Ta-Da !" says Walter

"Very nice" says Dr. Lam

"You out did yourself Sgt. This is all of the Generals personal gear correct?" asks Carter

"Yes ma'am. I have the keys to General O'Neill's during his absence and Dr. Lam retrieved General Landry's." says Walter

"Shotguns, fishing poles, tents and all the camping accessories they should need." says CarterDr. Lam holding up a box labeled live bait

"Night Crawlers?" asks Dr. Lam

"Minnows too, as well as clay pigeons with a manual thrower. Wait ! your going to love this." says Walter

Sgt. Harriman opens a door on the cart exposing a mini mini Naquadah generator "Fresh off the prototype assembly line the smallest Naquadah generator yet. It will power the cart and everything else requiring electricity."

"You think you could hook one of those up to my Hybrid (smiles all around) All the bells and whistles, you really think it will take their minds off the investigation." says Dr. Lam

"Cross your fingers and pray if it helps." says Carter

Walking into the gate room is Sgt. Syler dressed in ACU's and carrying his own gun and fishing equipment.

"Excuse me?" asks Carter

"You told me I had some mandatory leave I needed to take, so with your permission I'll take the generals gear to the Beta Site and stay there for a couple of weeks." says Slyer

"Dr. Lam would that qualify as his mandatory leave." asks Carter

"As long as he leaves the base and goes to the lake with the generals, Of course we will have to tell the generals that he is on leave not their care taker" says Dr. Lam

"I'll tell them" says Slyer

"No Sgt. I will tell them." says Dr. Lam

"Very well , Walter dial it up" says Carter

Walter walking towards the door pauses to whisper to Syler

"See, I told you it would work." says Walter

"Yea thanks." says Slyer

Walter enters the control room sits and proceeds to dial the Beta-Site. The gate spins the appropriate chevrons lock and the wormhole is established . Sgt Syler puts his gear in the trailer with the all the other and climbs into the driver seat.

"Enjoy yourself Sgt. That's an order." says Carter

"Yes Ma'am" says Syler

"If the generals seem hesitant to take advantage of this opportunity lead by example." says Dr. Lam

"No problemo" says Syler

With that Syler drives up the ramp and through the event and Dr. Lam turn to look at each other and simultaneously hold up both hands with fingers crossed

**BETA-SITE ARRIVAL 2**

The scene is the Beta-Site control room the alarm sounds and the announcement is made "unscheduled gate activation, unscheduled gate activation " the Beta-Site commander enters.

"What do we have Sgt.?" asks Col. Havlat

"It's the SGC sir" says Sgt. Sharp

"Put it up" says Havlat

"No transmission sir they're sending something through" says Sgt. Sharp

"Open the Iris" says HavlatYes Ma'am " says Sharp

Before the Iris can even open the generals are in the control room ; without even looking Col. Havlat stares at the ceiling

"Col. Havlat?" says O'Neill

"It's the SGC sir, someone or something is on its' way" says Havlat

Havlat no sooner finishes and Syler drives out of the event horizon

Col. Havlat and the generals leave the control room and go to the gate room.

"SURPRISE!" says Syler

Looking over what Syler brought with him they start to recognize things

"Is this my shot gun?" asks Landry

"Mine too" says O'Neill

"Looks like my fishing gear" says Landry

"Mine too" adds O'Neill

"Enough with the three bears. What's going on Goldie locks?" asks Landry

"Col. Carter sent this care package for the generals hoping to take their minds off of things for at least a little while." says Syler

"AH !The lake." says Havlat

"Lake? " asks O'Neill

"Recon discovered a huge lake about 20 clicks from here" says Havlat

"And we're just hearing about it now." says O'Neill

"Are you our babysitter Sgt.?" asks Landry"No sir, I'm taking my mandatory leave and this sounded like my kind of vacation, middle of nowhere, big lake, no Tvs', no screaming kids" says Syler

"All right Sgt. We get the picture" says Landry

"I like it. When do we leave?" asks O'Neill

"Well I guess it couldn't hurt , How's now sound?" says Landry

"OH! I am so there" says O'Neill

The Generals head for their rooms to grab their duffels while Havlat and Sharp show Syler the way out doors for the golf cart

"Sgt Syler I give you about two days before you change your mind about the screaming kids" says Havlat

This get a laugh out of both Syler and Sharp

"You guys are going to owe me big time for this" says Syler

"If it works we will be forever in your debt" says Havlat

"That's one big if" says Sharp

**TIME TO REGROUP**

**BACK TO NEW YORK**

The next morning the Admiral is in the middle of his calisthenics when his cell phone rings

"It's your nickel" says Chegwidden

"I am truly amazed; How did you get this much detailed information so fast?" asks Webb"Never under estimate the power of a tight budget" says Chegwidden

"Tight what?" asks Webb

"Never mind; did it all check out?" asks Chegwidden

"Absolutely, now we know where most of our leads were generated from" says Webb

"So your guys will take it from here?" asks Chegwidden

"They're already in place, so come on home, We've booked you on a flight that leaves JFK at noon; all the info has been e-mailed to you" says Webb

"Ok, see you soon" says Chegwidden

Chegwidden hangs up as he turns around and sees Vala standing in the doorway between rooms

"You heard?" says Chegwidden

"Yep; Already packed" says Vala

"I guess I'd better get to it" says Chegwidden

"I already ordered breakfast and I'm not leaving until I've thoroughly enjoyed it" says Vala

"Good for you" says Chegwidden

**BACK TO THE SGC**

The next morning Dr, Jackson and Col. MacKenzie meet with Col. Carter, Mr. Woolsey and Agent Webb in the SCG conference room

"It sounded like you guys had a real productive trip" says Webb

"When will we get a look at those artifacts?" asks Woolsey

"We only just found the owner to ask for a shot at them the day before yesterday" says Jackson

"We didn't want to go overboard and take the chance of spooking someone" says MacKenzie

"Relax Woolsey my guys didn't let either artifact out of their sight until they were on a Fed-ex plane this very morning" says Webb

"They should be delivered to our drop shop by 10 AM tomorrow, which means you'll have them in your hot little hands by noon" says Carter

"I'm sorry if I seem a little impatient, but we all have a lot riding on getting to the bottom of this" says Woolsey

"Mr. Woolsey you need to realize that these artifacts (as big a find as they are) might not have anything to do with our situation" says Jackson

"You really think so?" says Woolsey

"Everything we have is so vague" says Carter

"Webb already has everything we found on the Smith family; Whatever he manages to find out about the son will go a long way in the investigation." says MacKenzie

"Well it will either confirm his involvement or create an entirely new mystery" says Jackson

"Your kidding" says Carter

"Nope; Well I still have the pictures of the slates pages to decipher" says Jackson

"Then we need to decipher the deciphered dates and locations" adds MacKenzie

"Come again?" asks Webb

"Simply put the only language that can be used on the tablet is "Ancient " which means there were no words for cities, states or any other modern terms that we use today; So whoever used it did so with relatively simple yet cryptic codes, that we have yet to finish deciphering, So Col. MacKenzie and I will be in the computer lab" says Jackson

"How are The Admiral and Vala doing?" asks MacKenzie

"They had an amazing stroke of luck; Letterman actually invited them to stay for dinner last night and when Letterman's security cameras spotted someone in their control room they went with to investigate; It was only the director and a guy from I.T., but they had found a large number of files that looked like an on-line fantasy game; sound familiar? Says Webb

"Very" says Jackson

"The Admiral asked Letterman to give him a copy of those files to have our people look them over and see if they were causing any problems and Letterman handed it right over" says Webb

"We have an information overload right now and we need to find someway to put it all together" says MacKenzie

"Vala and the Admiral are catching a flight today and will probably be here late tonight" says Webb

Jackson and MacKenzie head for the computer lab leaving Woolsey, Webb and Carter to contemplate their next move. Once at the computer lab Daniel plugs in his lap top and downloads all the pictures to the main frame, there he can bring them all up at once on the big screen so they can try to match decrypted day planner pages to post cards from the Smiths son.

"If there is a work station I can use, I'd be able to crop, cut and paste each post card individually while you're deciphering more pages" says MacKenzie

"Great, That will save a lot of time" says Jackson

So Daniel shows Sarah a work station she can use and she jumps right in cropping individual postcards and then pasting them into groups by location, while Daniel deciphers additional day planner pages

"There are multiple post cards from the same cities" says MacKenzie

"Not surprising, just group them accordingly" says Jackson

MacKenzie gives Jackson a look he's seen before

"Sorry, you already knew to do that" says Jackson

"Ya Think!" says MacKenzie

"I deserved that" says Jackson

"How can we be sure every post card relates to a meeting place? He might actually have taken a vacation" says MacKenzie

"We can only see the front of the post cards so we have no dates and only those sent during the 30 days we have on the planner matter" says Jackson

"Man! This guy got around; Machu Picchu, Peru, This one is of Antarctica / McMurdo Base" says MacKenzie

"Yes, That fits this day quite nicely" says Jackson

"What's the description?" asks MacKenzie

"Cold, Cold" says Jackson

"Do you think we would have gotten that one without the post card?" asks MacKenzie

"When your finished sorting the post cards you should peruse the data base on Antarctica / McMurdo Base and see what you think" says Jackson

Jackson no sooner finishes his sentence when the alarm for an unscheduled gate activity goes off; an exited MacKenzie jumps at the chance to see the gate in action"Can We?" asks MacKenzie

Daniel knows what she means ands leads the way

"Follow me" says Jackson

They traverse several corridors before entering the control room seconds before the wormhole engages giving MacKenzie a birds eye view

"Way Cool!" says MacKenzie

"You'd think after seeing it happen 100's of times It wouldn't impress me the way it still does" says Carter

"Really?" says MacKenzie

"Oh Yea" says Carter

"I'm betting you can guess what it is" says Walter

"The Beta Site; put it up; The Generals have been driving everyone crazy wanting updates several times a day" says Carter

The connection is made and Col. Havlat is(to everyone's amazement)the only one on the screen.

"Is there anything wrong?" says Carter

"No, NO on the contrary, we just called to extend you our most sincerest thanks for coming up with that most wonderful diversion" says Havlat

"It's working?" asks Carter

"We haven't heard a peep in two days" says Havlat

"Are you sure they're ok?" asks Carter

"Your forgetting we have our very own satellite now, so we peek in now and again to make sure" says Havlat

"Excellent and your very welcome even though it was to all of our benefits" says Carter

"As long as I have you is there anything we can pass along to keep them happy?" asks Havlat

"We're currently sifting through a lot of data that we've retrieved, but it's going to take a while before we have anything definitive" answers Carter

"I'm not going to volunteer this , but if they call I'll pass it along" says Havlat

"You know we'll call if we get anything worth knowing" says Carter

"Thank you; Beta-Site out" says Havlat

"I wish we had more to give them" says MacKenzie

"Any new developments today?" asks Carter

"Nothing good" says Jackson

"What is it?" asks Carter

"It looks like they managed to get to McMurdo and possibly further" says Jackson

"How can that be; security there is almost as tight as it is here" says Carter

"We're either dealing with members of the military or the scientific community" says Jackson

"Unfortunately Just one General could make that happen" says MacKenzie

"Let's keep that little piece of information between us for now" says Carter

"My job is to get to the bottom of this good or bad" says MacKenzie

"I know, but until we know how they obtained access we don't want them to know we know, ya know?" says Carter

"Say that again three times really fast" says Jackson

"Your not helping Daniel" says Carter

"Sorry couldn't help myself, but your right, we don't want to play this card just now" says Jackson

"Agreed" says MacKenzie

"I guess we can go back to the computer lab" says Jackson

"I was finished sorting the cards, so if you don't mind I'm going to stay here and pick Col. Carter's brain a little to get a different perspective on things" says MacKenzie

"That's an excellent idea, as long as it's OK with Sam" says Jackson

"Who's Sam?" says MacKenzie

"Me, Sam short for Samantha" says Carter

"Did daddy want a boy?" asks MacKenzie

"He already had one, go figure; Any way It's fine with me, right now I need to get involved before the paper work drives me up a wall" says Carter

So Daniel heads back to the lab leaving the Col.'s behind

"Have you had lunch? Scratch that you've been working with Daniel I know you haven't" says Carter

"The term "tunnel vision" did come to mind a few times" says MacKenzie

Carter leads the way out of the control room headed for the cafeteria Having picked out their meals they find an open table and sit down to eat

"That's a pretty nice selection for a military cafeteria" says MacKenzie

"There have been times and situations that have required us to be here for weeks on end, so they try hard to make it as pleasant as possible" says Carter

"That's nice" says MacKenzie

"So, How was Chicago and what was the other town?" asks Carter

"Rockford; It was interesting. I had to keep reminding myself that what we find might bring a generals career to an end; otherwise I was having to much fun, I can see where Webb thought it was a fantasy role playing game, So much of it just didn't seem real. Symb…. You know the snakes" says MacKenzie

"Symbiotes; yes , I heard you found a dead one on display at a museum" says Carter

"That and the Tablet thing. The strangest thing was how Dr. Jackson just went about his work like it happens every day" says MacKenzie

"You'll come to understand around here it does" says Carter

"After I finished sorting the post card pictures I had a chance to start reading the files of past missions and until I saw the gate operate for myself; I was beginning to doubt their authenticity; Now I want to go through it

myself" admits MacKenzie

"I felt the same way when I got here and let me tell you it wasn't easy breaking into the all boys club" says Carter

"As a female JAG I know just what you mean" says MacKenzie

"Let's grab Daniel something to eat otherwise he'll keep going until he's ready to pass out" says Carter

"You know him better then I do, but I couldn't agree more" says MacKenzie

Carter puts together a balanced meal (the only time Daniel ever gets one) and they run in down to the computer lab; to find Daniel so involved at deciphering the tablet pictures, he doesn't even hear them enter. Carter walks over and sets the food tray right in front of him.

"OH, I didn't even hear you come in. Thank you, just let me finish up, then I'll eat" says Jackson

Carter turns the monitor off on Daniel

"These aren't going anywhere; Eat now, That's an order" says Carter

"Yes mother" says Jackson

"I thought you weren't military" says MacKenzie

"I also know better then to argue, when she's so right" says Jackson

"I'm going to remember that" says MacKenzie

"Has Webb been able to get anything on Smiths son?" asks Jackson

"Daniel You didn't give us much to go on" says Carter

"Let me try to narrow the search parameters" says MacKenzie

Col. MacKenzie sits down at the work station and goes straight to the internet "What was the Rockford newspaper?"

"The Rockford Register Star" answers Jackson

A quick search of the obituary archives from 6 months ago for "Smith" turns up 2 possible within the search parameters "Mary" age 55 and "William" age 30

"It fits" says MacKenzie

"Ok, so now we have one William Smith age 30 from Rockford, IL" says Jackson"Are we sure he was born there?" asks Carter

"The antique store has been in business since 1970 at the same location according to its web site" says MacKenzie

"Well if he was military we can pull those records with this additional information, I'll get someone right on that" says Carter

"While you're doing that I'm going to…." starts Jackson

Carter and MacKenzie simultaneously say "EAT!"

"One mother wasn't enough" says Jackson


	11. Chapter 11

**CONTINUING THE RUSE **

**BACK TO P-1953**

The rest of the night goes by without incident until first light when the rooster starts to crow and Bra'tac tries to throw an empty water bucket at it and misses by quite a large margin ; This causes Teal'c to stir

"I could have slept through the roosters' cackling old man, but you make enough noise to wake the dead" says Teal'c

"If that fowl keeps cackling I shall make it our breakfast" bristles Bra'tac

"That old bird would be as tough to eat as you are to look at this early in the morning; now go back to sleep before you awaken everybody" says Teal'c

"I still say that living with the Tau'ri has made you soft Teal'c" says Bra'tac

Teal'c rolls over and goes back to sleep because he knows the only thing to do is continue the charade for the Rebel Jaffa, in the Inn dining room and neither he or Bra'tac are a part of. Unfortunately a short time later Friar Duncan enters

"I am sorry to disturb you, but the old lady needs to be milked or else she will kick the door down" says the Friar"Allow me Friar" says Bra'tac

"You are familiar with the process?" asks the Friar

"It has been a long time, but I think I can manage" says Bra'tac

So the Friar hands Bra'tac the bucket and the stool and stands back. Bra'tac sets the stool down and positions himself and the bucket; reaches in and grabs hold of a tit; WHAM! Goes a rear hoof right through the stall door

"What did you do to that animal?" asks Teal'c

"I am not sure" says Bra'tac

Friar Duncan is laughing so hard he can't stand up

"Does she know your hand from mine?" asks Bra'tac

Friar Duncan finally composes himself enough to answer

"No, but she certainly knows this difference between a warm hand and a cold one" says the Friar

This sends Teal'c into hysterics as well ; Bra'tac rubs his hands together to warm them up and tries again; this time with a much more agreeable result, so Friar Duncan lets him continue and he goes to collect eggs from the hens

"How do you like your eggs?" asks the Friar

"Cooked is the only expectation" says Teal'c

"I will send them out with some hot oatmeal and something to drink" says the Friar

Back inside the Inn Morgan la Fay is stoking the fire to boil water for some good old fashion oatmeal as Mitchell and Rya'c come down the stairs.

"I don't suppose they have anything close to coffee here?" asks Mitchell

"I'm not sure what that is, but we have an herb we brew the Friar calls "Knox Brew" says Morgan

Morgan grabs a towel in order to grab the hot pot of knox brew off of the fire and pours Mitchell a cup. He takes a sip

"Whoa! Any sugar or milk?" asks Mitchell

Morgan hands Mitchell a little bowl of rough granules

"This is what we use to sweeten and the Friar should return soon with milk; fresh from his animal" says Morgan

No sooner does Morgan finish saying it, Friar Duncan walks through the back door, basket of eggs in one hand; bucket of milk in the other

"Perfect, the only thing missing is the bacon" says Mitchell

"I did not see any pigs amongst the animals" says Rya'c

"To bad , we'll just have to deal with it" says Mitchell

Just then Ishta walks in the front door carrying an animal carcass that resembles a small wild boar "I snared this just inside the woods" says Ishta

"We call them Nogs, their meat cooks up quite nicely" says the Friar

"Well it looks like you found lunch; because I'm no butcher and I wouldn't know where to find the bacon" admits Mitchell

"I have a device that holds the animal up over the fire so we can spin it and it then cooks evenly" says the Friar

"I think we call that same device a "spit'" says Mitchell

"Doesn't sound very appetizing" says the Friar

"Now that you mention it" says Mitchell

"Well after we clean up after breakfast we will prepare the nog for cooking" says the Friar

A short time later the eggs are cooked the oatmeal is also done and everybody is served; three extra portions of everything are set aside out of the view of the Jaffa device for the others out in the barn. Rya'c was the first one served so he is finished first

"Would you like me to feed the animals Friar?" asks Rya'c

"Thank you Rya'c I would appreciate that" says the Friar

Rya'c heads toward the back door then slips over in a blind spot to grab the food for the threesome in the barn and heads out. Once in the barn he realizes that Adria is still inside upstairs in her room

"Your eating out here with us this morning?" asks Teal'c

"I have already ate father, but I forgot that Adria is inside and upstairs" says Rya'c

"Is there more food inside?" asks Bra'tac

"I believe so" says Rya'c

"Then you may leave that plate here and get more for her when you go back in" says Bra'tac

"I should probably go now then; I shall return shortly" says Rya'c

Rya'c goes back in and stays out of the devices line of sight motioning to Ishta to come to him, so she does and he speaks softly so as not to be heard by the device

"I forgot that Adria was upstairs and took all three plates outside" says Rya'c

"Why not bring one of them back in?" asks Ishta

"Bra'tac insisted I leave the plate for he and father to share and to get another one for Adria" says Rya'c

"Very well remain here and I will make one up for her" says Ishta

Ishta does just that and tells Rya'c that she will deliver it to Adria

personally, so up the stairs she goes to Adrias' door and knocks

"Who is it?" asks Adria

"Ishta; I have brought food" says Ishta

"I would have come down" says Adria

"That is what I was afraid of" says Ishta

"Oh yes, I almost forgot" says Adria

"In a little while we will probably have Rya'c spot the device and turn it off after declaring to return it to the ones that left it. Then we will all be able to move about freely. If the Rebel Jaffa don't return by tomorrow morning we will head for the gate" says Ishta

"On foot?" asks Adria

"Unless one of the farmers is getting a very late start for the harvest market, that we can get a ride from, then yes on foot. How did you two make it all the way here in the first place?" asks Ishta

"When we regained consciousnesses at the foot of the gate we were without clothing; we spotted a camp fire in the distance so we snuck up to see if there was any clothes to be had; that is when we got caught red handed. Seeing our predicament Micah let us have the clothes we are wearing" explains Adria

"Why did they bring you here?" asks Ishta

"Morgan explained that there might be some people looking for us in order to do us harm, so they offered us sanctuary in return for our helping them and other farmers that needed it to get the harvest in; We had pretty much just finished with the last farmer when the Jaffa showed up" says Adria

"Who's idea was "Farmer Cristobal"?" asks Ishta

"Friar Duncan of all people" says Adria

"We will let you know when it is safe to come into the main room; Otherwise you can always go back out to the barn with Master Bra'tac and Teal'c" says Ishta

"I believe I will save that aggravation for the journey back to the Stargate" says Adria

"It will take some time to get used to the idea that you are no longer a formidable enemy" says Ishta

"I can not even imagine" says Adria

Ishta leaves Adria to eat her breakfast and returns downstairs to rejoin the others. By this time the water for doing the morning dishes is ready, so with the help of Mitchell, the Friar and Rya'c they make quick work of them. While Ishta and Rya'c put everything away, the Friar prepares the nog for cooking and Mitchell stokes the fire so that it's ready when the Friar is done

"I guess we will take turns working the spit" says Mitchell

"That actually sounds like fun" says Rya'c

"You may have my turn if you like" says Ishta

"Why don't the men handle the spit as you call it and the ladies can deal with the vegetables and fruits from the root cellar" suggest the Friar

"Sounds like a plan Friar; Sounds like a plan" says Mitchell

So the rest of the morning and into the early afternoon are spent with the mundane chores of turning the spit and cleaning, peeling and cooking vegetables. Mitchell even took the rest of the eggs that weren't eaten at breakfast and showed the Friar how to make hard boiled eggs

"Do we have anything that resembles mustard?" asks Mitchell

"I'm not sure I remember what that is" says Morgan

"Well, I mean it's made from the mustard plant; Its' yellow seeds are ground into a pulp then a few other spices are added with just enough water to make a paste" says Mitchell

"We make Sklura from the Sklura plant" says the Friar

The Friar goes to his pantry and returns with a small ceramic jar, opens it to expose a greenish paste; sticks a finger in to coat the tip and sticks it in his mouth and immediately breaks into a sweat

"Whoa, that is what I call spicy" says the Friar

Mitchell can't help himself and does the same and he too breaks into a sweat

"Damn Friar that's some smoke'n stuff , I think I'll make some deviled eggs with Sklura and I'll bet you'll use the recipe from now on

"That sounds most interesting" says Friar

"Where did the ladies go" asks Mitchell

"Out to the barn to see if they could find a few more eggs for you to boil hard" says the Friar

"I guess I'll go see what the hold up is; You doing alright there Rya'c?" asks Mitchell

Rya'c is on spit duty

"Yes I am doing just fine" says Rya'c

"Good, I'll be right back" says Mitchell

Mitchell leaves via the back door and goes to the barn; upon entering he finds Bra'tac (as no surprise) in a heated debate with Morgan la Fay

"Do I not remember correctly stories of you and Teal'c having to share his symbiote after yours was damaged beyond repair" says Morgan

"That is not the same thing" argues Bra'tac

"You obviously can not remember how helpless you must have felt" says Morgan

"Would you two give it a rest" says Mitchell

"Have you ever been in such a position of hopelessness?" asks Bra'tac

"How about getting blown out of the sky over Antarctica" says Mitchell

"Ah yes I remember that, your people owe you a great debt" says Bra'tac

"As do yours for all you've done" says Mitchell

"Nonsense it was my calling, my duty" says Bra'tac

"AS it was mine; Do you think we can have Rya'c spot that damn ball so we can turn it off and all go inside and sit down to a nice lunch?" asks Mitchell

"I believe we have given the Rebel Jaffa more then enough to make them believe the women are not here" says Teal'c

"Good, Ladies shall we go back in and bring the curtain down on this wonderful performance?" says Mitchell

"I will be most happy to do so" says Ishta

"I agree" says Morgan

So Mitchell, Ishta and Morgan return to the Inn dining room

"We're back" says Mitchell

"I can see that; any more eggs?" asks the Friar

"Just a couple" says Ishta

"Alright Rya'c let me give that thing a spin or two" says Mitchell

Rya'c lets Mitchell take over the spit turning, as he does Mitchell gives Rya'c a wink and nods his head towards the device, Rya'c takes his cue as he sits at the table he looks directly at the device

"Has that thing been there long(pointing at it)?" asks Rya'c

"I had not noticed it before now" says Ishta

"It is not mine, I have never seen it before" says the Friar

"No Friar it is not yours; it was obviously left behind by the Jaffa" says Ishta

"You are correct Micah it is a communication orb, they must have been trying to contact someone and forgot it; I shall make every effort to return it to them" says Rya'c

As Rya'c finishes his sentence he reaches up and grabs the box holding the orb and closes it, effectively turning it off

"Shall I go tell father and Bra'tac" asks Rya'c

"Do we have to" says Morgan

"Yes" says Mitchell

"Right now" says Morgan

"Well, as soon as lunch is ready" says Mitchell

"Thank You; I will go tell Adria"

"Do we have to?" Ishta says (mockingly)

"I guess I asked for that" says Morgan

"Indeed" says Friar

"Ah Friar, not you too" says Mitchell

This brings a smile to the faces of Ishta and Rya'c, but Morgan goes up to inform Adria just the same

"The device has been turned off, you may join us downstairs if you like" says Morgan

"Thank you I was beginning to go crazy" says Adria

"Beginning?" asks Morgan"You too?" says Adria

"Just seeing if your paying attention" says Morgan

Morgan turns to return downstairs and Adria is right on her heels, once there Morgan notices that Ishta is missing

"Where did Ishta go?" asks Morgan

"Take three guesses and the first two don't count"

"I should have known" says Morgan

"Don't fret to much Teal'c and Bra'tac won't be in any hurry to come inside, but once the aroma of this nog waifs its' way out to them you won't want to get in their way" warns Mitchell

"It does smell wonderful" says Adria

Ishta enters the room from the back door

"Enjoy it while you can because when lunch is over you will be doing the dishes with Teal'c and Bra'tac" says Ishta

"I can't wait to see that" laughs Mitchell

"You will find Adria has been more than willing to do her share of the work load" says the Friar

"Thank you Friar " says Adria

"You know at home I have a meat thermometer that I use to see when the meat is done, How do you tell Friar?" asks Mitchell

"I stick the big fork as deep as I can and if no blood oozes out it is done enough" says the Friar

"Here goes" says Mitchell

Mitchell sticks the big fork as deep as he can and then removes it, then waits to see if any blood oozes, none does so he declares the main course ready. Ishta uses a much smaller fork to see if the veggies are tender

"These will be ready by the time the meat is carved and ready to serve" says Ishta

Just as predicted Teal'c and Bra'tac enter through the rear door right on cue

"What is that magnificent aroma?" asks Bra'tac

"They call it Nog Master Bra'tac and we are just about to carve" says Rya'c

"Who has been given the honor of this carving" asks Teal'c

Mitchell holds the big knife and fork out to Teal'c " Knock yourself out big guy"

With a huge smile Teal'c accepts Mitchells offer and begins to carve layers off of the carcass as everyone else lines up with a plate in hand. Teal'c puts a good helping of meat on each plate and then each one ladles a helping of veggies from the pot by the fire

"As a special treat for those of you that like spicy foods I've made up some Deviled Eggs with Sklura(a local paste) right over there on the table" offers Mitchell

"I do not think you humans know what spicy is" says Bra'tac

With that he(Bra'tac) picks one of the deviled eggs up and shoves the whole thing into his mouth. Within seconds sweat starts to bead on Bra'tacs' brow, As he finally if ever so slowly starts to chew and swallow. Everyone is trying not to bust out laughing as Bra'tac finishes the ordeal

"Maybe not , But the Friar and his people sure do" says Mitchell

Bra'tac grabs a glass of milk someone had left on the table and chugs it down. Now nobody can stand it anymore they all bust out laughing all at once even Bra'tac

"That was a most formidable adversary Friar" says Bra'tac

"I am glad you approve and let the others beware" warns the Friar

After everyone is served they all sit at the same table, with Mitchell, Teal'c, Bra'tac and Friar Duncan all clustered around the deviled eggs

"Anyone that partakes of the devils eggs will sleep in the barn tonight" warns Ishta

Once again laughter breaks out

"What have the animals ever done to you to deserve such a cruel punishment ?" asks the Friar

The laughter only gets louder After everyone has enjoyed a most excellent lunch Friar Duncan gets up and goes to his pantry only to return with a large cask and several mugs

"A meal such as this deserves a good drink to wash it down with" says the Friar

Mitchell, Teal'c and Bra'tac respond in unison "Here, Here!"

"Do you think we should let Adria partake of such things? You do remember what happened the last time?" asks Morgan

"Are you telling us Adria's a cheap date" says Mitchell

"It was not my fault; They neglected to inform us that it was an alcoholic brew" claims Adria

"Do tell now" says Mitchell

"We do not discuss such matters in polite company" says the Friar

"Morgan I will want all of the sordid details later" says Mitchell

"Morgan you wouldn't?" pleads Adria

Morgan says "Not to worry(while giving Mitchell a wink as she finishes)""MORGAN!" yells Adria

"Young lady you are going to have to learn to laugh at yourself once in a while, stop taking everything so seriously" says Morgan

All of a sudden this strange look comes over Adrias face and she immediately stands and excuses herself "Excuse me I must go and anate"

A puzzled look comes over everyone's face except for Morgan and the Friar

"Are you going to let us in on the joke or what?" asks Mitchell

"As the Orisi Adria was not compelled to partake of human necessities such as food or drink which made it unnecessary for her to ever have to expel waste products if you catch my drift" explains Morgan

"Go on" urges Ishta

"I told you we were taken in by a family from this village when we were unceremoniously left at the base of the stargate. They fed us and gave us drink, the first time Adria had encountered either. The next morning as we were partaking of the morning meal a very worried look came over her face, she looked down between her legs and then whispered in my ear that she was leaking

This garnered a chuckled from everyone

Morgan continued "Urinating I said; Her reply was How do I stop it and I told her it would stop on its own but that she would have to learn that feeling when it happens and excuse herself to somewhere private to let it happen

Everyone was still chuckling

"You can only imagine how crazy she got during her first movement if you…"

Interrupted mid-sentence

"WE GET IT That's quite enough" says Mitchell

After everyone finishes their meal and drink; The dish water is hot enough to use, so Ishta informs Teal'c and Bra'tac that they are joining Adria on dish washing detail and they know better then to argue with her, so they jump right in and start. When they are finished they join the others sitting outside enjoying the beautiful weather. The Friar has even pulled out his pipe to enjoy a few puffs.


	12. Chapter 12

**MORE MAYHEM**

**THE LAKE **

The scene inside the unlit tent of the Generals sleeping peacefully, when the silence is shattered by the roar of gun fire. They jump to their feet and run outside to find Sgt. Syler tossing clay pigeons into the air then raising his shot gun and trying to blow it out of the sky.

"Morning sirs, Man is it a beautiful morning." says Syler

"Syler do you have any idea what time it is?" asks O'Neill

Looking at his watch "0:900 sir" says Syler

Both generals shout simultaneously say "ON EARTH!"

"But the suns position in the sky" says Syler

"Apparently you missed the mission briefings stating that it's daylight here 18 hours of a 23 hour cycle." scowls Landry

"So it's really?" asks Syler

Simultaneously "4AM!"

"Sorry sirs" says Syler

"That's alright son, but try to not let it happen again" says Landry

"Pack that watch away before it fools you again" warns O'Neill

"I'd listen to him Sgt he speaks from experience" says Landry

"Don't remind me." says O'Neill

"Who drew short straw and has to make breakfast today?" asks Landry

Syler : General O'Neill

"What did I just say." says O'Neill

"It's my fault your up so early so I'll help" says Syler

"Good Man Syler" says O'Neill

"Not so fast, Aren't you forgetting Syler's on leave" Landry reminds

"It wasn't an order " says O'Neill

"I understand I'm volunteering" says Slyer

"I'm not going to know because my eyes are going to be closed until breakfast is announced." says Landry

The scene is at the generals camp site at the Beta -Site lake Col. O'Neill is frying something up on the cook stove and Sgt. Syler appears to be buttering toast. As O'Neill slides the finished meal onto a plate he calls to General Landry

"Breakfast! Get it while it's hot." shouts O'Neill

General Landry exits the tent and seats himself at the table as General

O'Neill sets a dish in front of him. Looking down at what appears to be some kind of fish like creature staring back at them with eight eyes.

"JESUS! Jack what the hell is this!" says Landry

"Fish or so I'm told" says O'Neill

"How do we know it's even edible?" asks Landry

"The Ichthyologist at base said it was" says O'Neill

"Damn ! I'm shocked you can even say it let alone know what it means" says Landry

"I'll have you know I'm a very edumacated man" says O'Neill

"I'll have you know I'm sticking to the "COCO PUFFS"" says Landry

"After I slaved over a hot stove and Syler went through all the trouble to catch these fine specimens" says O'Neill

"What did it taste like?" asks Landry

"Do I look like a guinea pig to you I ate the "Fruit Loops" Ask Syler I think he actually tried one." says O'Neill

"Kind of like perch sir." says Slyer

"What did you land it with night crawler or minnow?" asks Landry

"Actually they weren't hitting on either so I tried a hunk of chew and boy did they go crazy for it." says Slyer

"That's more than we needed to know Syler; way more" says O'Neill

"Well in a couple of days, if Syler's still alive I'll probably work up the nerve to try it. I might ask him to filet it first, I can't stand to have my food staring back at me." says Landry

"I hear that." says O'Neill

"I had never seen flying fish on earth but man you should see the ones they've got here." says Slyer

"You do realize that on earth they just jump so high they call it flying?" says O'Neill

"Really? Well not here. Here they really do fly. I saw several fly away and others fly in." says Slyer

"I guess we don't have to worry about running out of clay pigeons. Quips O'Neill (After a couple of dirty stares) I'M Kidding! Sheesh!"

"What was that contraption you were fishing in?" asks O'Neill

"It's an inner tube with waders built right in; just walk right out into the water and when it gets deep enough start floating; I brought one for each of us, they even come with a little paddle" says Slyer

Less than an hour after breakfast is finished we find all three men out on the lake sporting the inner tube waders fishing poles in hand

"Pretty cool huh?" says Slyer

"Now I need a floating tackle box" says Landry

"Yeah, that and a cooler" says Slyer

"Who needs a cooler?" says O'Neill

O'Neill pulls a fish stringer out of the water to which he has tied four bottles of beer to.

"I hope you brought enough to share" says Landry

"Naturally, one for each of you and two for me" says O'Neill

O'Neill's rod starts to bend

"Jack you've got a bite" says Landry

"No way, all I'm using is a practice plug" says O'Neill

"How did you expect to catch anything with that?" asks Landry

"It's more relaxing to me when the fish don't get in the way" says O'Neill

Whatever has grabbed his line in now pulling more line off the reel

"Set the (hook would have been the next word only Landry realized there was none)…never mind just reel it in, see if it holds on to your plug" says Landry

Jack reels it in until he pulls a huge pike looking fish right up along side of him; It's about 36" long and weighs in at about 18 pounds

"I don't suppose either of you guys brought a net?" asks O'Neill

"Right here sir" says Slyer

Slyer pulls a net out of the water tied to the side of his waders; he unties it and hands it to General O'Neill

"Look at the teeth on that thing" says Slyer

"How am I supposed to get my plug out of that mouth?" asks O'Neill

Just then the fish spit's the plug out and jumps out of the net and takes off across the lake, when all of a sudden another fish as big as any shark they've ever seen comes shooting up from underneath the first fish snapping its jaws, all but finishing it off with one bite. Simultaneously they all start paddling for shore

"That's enough fishing for me" says Landry

"Me too" says O'Neill

"I think I'll make it unanimous" says Slyer

"Next time I think I'll use my shotgun from the shore" says O'Neill

"Maybe we should get a couple of zat guns from the base" says Landry

"Couldn't hurt; Jesus! I just realized what that was" says O'Neill

"Are you going to tell us?" asks Landry

"That was a Symbiote Queen" says O'Neill

"A Gou'ld queen?" says Landry

"I don't know of any other kind" O'Neill

"Havlat will need to get a team out here ASAP" says Landry

"Yep, Right after we're ready to leave" says O'Neill

"Jack!" says Landry

"What! You know what it will be like around here once they find out" says O'Neill

"I suppose you're right" says Landry

"As long as we stay a safe distance from the water we'll be fine" says O'Neill

"Are you telling me that the poking I felt on my legs earlier might have been a symbiote trying to penetrate my skin?" asks Syler

"And your just mentioning this now!" says O'Neill

"I'm used to fish doing it on earth" says Syler

"AS long as there are no Unas here as well" says O'Neill

"Is that what captured Dr. Jackson a couple of years ago?" asks Syler

"OH Yea" says O'Neill

**BACK TO THE SGC**

As Col. Carter heads out of the lab Col. MacKenzie goes back to reading mission reports and Daniel eats

After a while Carter returns with an update

"This is what we've come up with William J. Smith born 7/11/1980 Rockford, IL Graduated class of 98' Auburn High School, Went to the Air Force Academy on a full R.O.T.C. Scholarship graduated class of 02' and immediately went active as a 2nd LT and was sent to flight school, in 2004 was granted a medical discharge for injuries suffered during a training mission over Antarctica; sound familiar?" Carter asks of Daniel

"Anyone that was injured during the battle with Anubis was written up that way, if they were unable to return to duty" says Jackson

"Battle! Anubis! Which mission report do I pull up for that?" says MacKenzie

"Remember when you asked me if we would have figured out that cold/cold was Antarctica without the post card? This is the mission I was referring to" says Jackson

Carter is looking over the pictures of the post cards and spots the one of Machu Picchu " Daniel wasn't that close to where you were kidnapped?"

"Kidnapped! I feel a real late night of reading coming on; is there some place on base I can crash?" asks MacKenzie

"The room I use when I stay has two beds and that way I'll be able to answer any questions you have on the spot" says Carter

"When you stay? The last time you went to your house the neighbors called the cops because they didn't recognize you" says Jackson

"Well when we get through this, I'll drag her out to show me around" promises MacKenzie

"Oh you might drag her out, but I'm betting you'll be the one doing the showing" says Jackson

"You make it sound much worse then it is" claims Carter

"If I had a nickel for every time I've heard someone tell you to get a real life" says Jackson

"This is my life and I enjoy it very much" says Carter

"Now, Now kids play nice" says MacKenzie

"Well I've finished deciphering the pages now we see if we can match them up to the corresponding postcards" says Jackson

"Daniel it's getting pretty late; Why don't we get a fresh start in the morning?" suggests Carter

"That way we (meaning her and Carter ) can start our girls night in" says MacKenzie

Just then Webb walks in with an update

"The Admiral and Vala are getting in so late they're getting rooms at the motel by the airport; That way we can pick them up at the same time we get the artifacts"

"Sounds good" says Carter

"How are you guys doing here?" asks Webb

"The pages are deciphered, tomorrow we try to match them to the post cards" says Jackson

"Great; Then I guess we get together and debrief everyone around noon" says Webb

"See you then" says Carter

Webb leaves; Jackson says his goodnights and is right behind him, leaving Carter and MacKenzie to plan their evening

"What time does the mess hall close" asks MacKenzie

"The SGC is a 24/7 operation" says Carter

"Your saying it doesn't?" says MacKenzie

"Yep" says Carter

"I'm not real hungry yet how about we start light; Microwave Popcorn?" says MacKenzie

"I already have a supply of that in my room" says Carter

"Careful you'll start proving Daniel right" says MacKenzie

"Shhh!" says Carter

A short time later Carter and MacKenzie are in their room munching popcorn, while MacKenzie is at the computer reading old mission files

"Did you start at the beginning?" asks Carter

"No, Our talk earlier about McMurdo and Daniels kidnapping drew me straight to those files" says MacKenzie

"I understand, But out of context your going to miss a lot" says Carter

"I'm already finding that out; Daniel wears a wedding band, But I've never heard him even mention a wife" says MacKenzie

"That question would have been answered within the first three mission reports; Daniel met his wife on Abydos during the very first mission" says Carter

"She's an alien?" asks MacKenzie

"No; her people descended from slaves taken right here from earth, by the Gou'ld" says Carter

"What happened to her?" asks MacKenzie

"I'll bet you spent a fortune on "Cliff Notes" in school" says Carter

"I know I'm getting way ahead of myself but in the time we have allotted short cuts will need to be taken" says MacKenzie

"I guess I can cut you a little slack" says Carter

"Thank you, and?" asks MacKenzie

"She was taken captive by the Gou'ld Apophis and he made her his queen; later she gave birth to the Harsisis child" says Carter

"What is that?" asks MacKenzie

"A human with no Symbiote but all the genetic memories of the Gou'ld; "However during the final trimester of the pregnancy the symbiote has to go dormant or risk harming the child; this allowed Char'ra to escape back to Abydos, where she gave birth"

"Don't stop now" says MacKenzie

"Daniel and Teal'c were there and put on a show for the queen when she revived, making her believe a different Gou'ld System Lord had abducted the baby" says Carter

"All of that is in here if I keep reading" asks MacKenzie

"Yep; Eventually you would get to the part where Teal'c had to kill her to save Daniel" says Carter

"He forgave Teal'c?" asks MacKenzie

"That took a long time" says Carter

MacKenzie goes back to reading and before long Carter walks over to the work station MacKenzie is sitting at and turns it off

"Why did you do that?" asks MacKenzie

"Look at the clock" says Carter

"Midnight! It feels like we just started" says MacKenzie

"You were mentioning tunnel vision before; Now you see how easy it is to get so caught up in it that you lose all track of time. Now let's go get something to eat before calling it a night, otherwise we might just sleep through tomorrows meeting" says Carter

"Now that you mention it I do suddenly feel hungry" says MacKenzie

So Carter and MacKenzie go to the mess hall and eat a very late dinner before turning in

The next morning….

The scene is the SGC conference room , present are Lt Col. Carter and MacKenzie, Mr. Woolsey, Agent Webb, Dr. Jackson, Vala, Admiral Chegwidden and Dr. Lam

"Well both teams had excellent results this time out and I think we should start with Dr. Jackson's report on the artifacts that just arrived Dr. Jackson if you would please" says Woolsey

Jackson proceeds to open a box that is sitting right in front of him

"I'll start by telling everyone that both artifacts were discovered by a Mr. Smith in his sons car; when it was returned to him after it had been ran off the road into a lake, killing both his wife and son; This first Item is the remains of a Gou'ld Symbiote; I have hypothesized that the son one William Smith was host to this Gou'ld, but I've yet to find any evidence one way or the other. The second is the ancient tablet which requires one of these actuators to work" explains Jackson

"We're positive it's not a Tok'ra?" asks Carter

"Yes I should have added that possibility" says Jackson

Jackson removes the actuator from his back pack and proceeds to wand it over the tablet, only this time nothing happens

"This is odd" says Jackson

"What's wrong Daniel?" asks Carter

"This one is blank, so it has either been erased or it's not the same one; I think before anyone else handles this we should have it dusted for prints"

"Can we even do that here?" asks Woolsey

"I can have someone here to do it within the hour" says Webb

"Do we have any idea of how many people could have handled that since we left the Field Museum?" asks MacKenzie

"Not really, but maybe we'll get lucky" says Jackson

"Well it can't hurt to try" adds Webb

"Why don't you just update us on what you discovered" says Woolsey

"Well Mr. Smith found both artifacts in his sons car as I said; he believed that they were his surprise birthday gift that his son had hinted to the last time they spoke; We assume Mr. Smith suffers from emphysema making it necessary for him to have an oxygen tank with him at all times, I think that his son was planning to pass the symbiote to his father long enough to cure him before taking it back and that the tablet was his day planner" explains Jackson

"Have you any theories as to how he came to possess the symbiote?" asks Woolsey

"We now know that he was retired Air Force and that he received a medical discharge after the battle with Anubis over Antarctica" says Carter

"What's the connection?" asks Webb

"Scores of ships from both sides were shot down during the battle; who knows if symbiotes were able to leave the bodies of Jaffas to badly injured to repair and found injured humans easier to mend" finishes Jackson

"OH MY GOD!" says Woolsey

"What?" asks Webb

"The Dirty Dozens" says Jackson

"Who or what are the "Dirty Dozens"?" asks Webb

"36 pilots, co-pilots and crew members from various ships downed over Antarctica during the battle with Anubis marched into McMurdo Base 3 days later having survived the worst mother nature could throw at them; without losing even a pinky toe to frost bite" explains Carter

"Why wouldn't that have raised all kinds of red flags?" asks Webb

"Their explanations were totally plausible and they all had their stories down pat" says Carter

"We need to pull the records of all of them and bring them in ASAP" says Woolsey

"Good luck; When I found the records on William Smith there was nothing after his discharge; He went totally off the grid" says Carter

"Well he didn't hide from his family" says Webb

"We don't know if that would have been the case if he were still alive, in fact we wouldn't know any of this had it not been for his(and his mothers)untimely demise" says MacKenzie

"I'd be awfully surprised if all of them are making it without their pension checks" says A.J.

"Good point" Webb

"I'll have their records pulled right away" says Carter

"And as soon as I have those I'll get my people on their trail" says Webb

"Let's finish here before going off in a myriad of directions; Admiral, Vala what do you have for us?" asks Woolsey

"The "Readers Digest " version, We got lucky and ended up with a disc of all the files that had went through the studio satellite"

"You left out all the good parts" says Vala

"Like?" asks MacKenzie

"Getting to see the show taping, twice; scaring the bad guys off, having Letterman cater in dinner for us" says Vala

"Don't forget Martin" says A.J.

"Oh Yes, we had to get Martin Lloyd to go away" adds Vala

"So basically what the admiral said is all that is pertinent to the task at hand, the rest is chit chat" says Jackson

"What about the bad guys?" asks Vala

"Those were my people Vala, They were there to watch out for you" says Woolsey

Pointing at the admiral

"Not a Word" warns Vala

"I think we just got saved an "I told you so"" says MacKenzie

"My people are working on the disc as we speak" says Webb

"What about the satellite technician; I sent you photos of his ID and DD-214 card, That makes him former Military" says A.J.

"All forged; However I'm betting he is one of your "Dirty Dozens" Did we get any pictures of him?" asks Webb

Dejectedly A.J. answers "Only the one on his drivers license"

" Good enough" says Webb

"Alright, let's start with getting the records of the "Dirty Dozens" and see if any of them match your technician or the late Mr. Smith; then we'll reconvene later to determine our next step" says Woolsey

Col. Carter, Dr. Jackson, Col. MacKenzie, Adm. Chegwidden and Vala all head for the computer lab to begin the downloading process while Woolsey and Webb remain behind to discuss strategy


	13. Chapter 13

**WHO'S FOOLING WHO**

**BACK TO P-1953**

"We need to discuss your travel plans for tomorrow" says the Friar

"What's to discuss, it's a two + day walk" says Mitchell

"Not if we use my wagon" offers the Friar

"You are not fearful of leaving the entire village empty?" asks Ishta

"I am sure that the first farmers that left for the harvest marketAre already on the way back; in fact some could still make it here before we leave and if not we will run into them on the road and let them know what is going on" says the Friar

"Hopefully they might be able to tell us if the Jaffa have left for home" says Mitchell

"That information would be most valuable" says Bra'tac

"We can start stocking the wagon with fruits and vegetables for the trip, right after I finish my pipe, you younger, stronger men can load one of the water barrels on and then fill it from the well" says the Friar

"A small price to pay for a ride all the way back to the stargate" says Teal'c

After finishing his pipe and letting their meal digest everyone helps stock the wagon for the trip and as they finish darkness falls and they all say their goodnights.

The next morning the Friar had just finished starting a fire and putting on a pot of water for oatmeal(and hopefully more boiled hard eggs)and he was headed out to the barn to collect eggs and milk his big lady; When all of a sudden the rooster starts in and the next thing he heard was the water bucket bouncing off the wall WHAM! He then over hears Bra'tac

"I now understand why they call you fowl" groans Bra'tac

Friar Duncan chuckles to himself as he approaches the barn door and enters

"And good morning to you too Master Bra'tac" says the Friar

"Is it that time already Friar?" asks Bra'tac

"I am afraid so, but I will try to collect the eggs quietly" says the Friar

"Once I am up, I am up, so I will milk the animal and this time I WILL remember to warm my hands old girl(looking right her)" says Bra'tac

"I on the other hand would be able to go back to sleep if two old timers could tone it down a few decibels" says Teal'c

"All I have to say to that is SOFT!" yells Bra'tac

After that Bra'tac and the Friar go about the chores as quietly as could be expected. Once done they each grab an ox and lead them out of the barn, once out the door the Friar just lets go so Bra'tac does the same and to Bra'tacs' surprise the two animals go directly to the front of the wagon; standing right where they need to be for hitching

"I suppose if Teal'c was not laying there you would have just opened the animals door and let them go" says Bra'tac

"Usually that is just what I do; but I did not want to chance it with Teal'c there" says the Friar

Once the oxen are hitched to the wagon the Friar heads toward the Front door of the Inn

"Would you mind going back to the barn and bringing the basket of eggs in? I forgot to grab the basket" asks the Friar

"Not at all, I will be right in with them" says Bra'tac

As the Friar enters the Inn he hears Adria whistling as she is making the oatmeal

"I am going to miss you young ladies, You both have been a godsend" says the Friar

"Thank you for saying so Friar; However I must answer for my past deeds, but it would be nice to know I would be welcome back if I needed a place to go" says Adria

"You would be more then welcome" says the Friar

Slowly but surely everyone eventually makes it to the dining room as the oatmeal is ready to serve

"Do you have flour Friar?" asks Mitchell

"Yes we use it to make bread and cakes" says the Friar

"What about a leavening agent, like yeast; You know what you use to make the bread rise?" asks Mitchell

The Friar goes to his pantry and brings back a ceramic jar filled with very little light brown granules

"This is what we use and simply put we call it riser" says the Friar

"Great, Stand back I'm about to show you another recipe that you will use forever more" says Mitchell

Mitchell grabs a big bowl and proceeds to whip up a batter

"That is a little thin for cake batter" says the Friar

"Watch the magic" says Mitchell

Mitchell grabs a frying pan adds a little butter and puts it on the fire to preheat; he wait's about a minute for the butter to melt, then he sticks his finger into the water pot and flicks a few drops into the frying pan to see if they dance; they do it's ready. He pours enough batter into the pan to coat about 75% of the bottom and it almost immediately starts to bubble

"PANCAKES!"

"Righty O" says Mitchell

"Pancakes?" asks the Friar

"Trust me; your going to love them" says Mitchell

Mitchell proceeds to flip the pancake with a flip of the wrist, to the enjoyment of all, he then grabs a plate and slides it out of the pan to the plate

"To our most gracious host; I usually put a little butter on top and after that melts I put maple syrup, but since you probably don't have that some of your jam or honey will do the trick." says Mitchell

The Friar puts a little butter on and then drizzles some honey over the top. It only takes one bite to decide that it is delicious indeed, so as he continues to eat his Mitchell proceeds to make up the entire batch, which makes enough for everyone to try them. Just as everyone finishes breakfast they hear a dog barking in the distance

"That must be the black smiths dog and he only barks when he hears someone coming down the road into town" says the Friar

"Until we know who it is Adria and Morgan should stay out of site" says Mitchell

"Agreed" says Bra'tac

"We will go upstairs and wait for you to call us" says Morgan

"The rest of us will stay inside until The Friar can determine who's coming" says Mitchell

Looking out the front window Friar Duncan can already see the wagon

"It is the wagon of Adams Eager our blacksmith, but something is not right, He would have left his wagon at his place and either walked or rode his mare" says the Friar

"Teal'c and I shall Take up defensive positions" says Bra'tac

"Rya'c, Ishta and I will stay here and play our roles, Morgan will need to rejoin us down here to play hers" says Mitchell

As the wagon pulls up to the front of the Inn Friar Duncan goes out to meet them, but he no sooner gets out the door when two of the Rebel Jaffa jump out of the back armed with staff weapons""We are sorry for the subterfuge Friar, but we needed to be absolutely certain that the women we seek are truly not here; so if you don't mind we will take one more look around." says Jaffa 1

"Why is your wagon hitched?, are you going somewhere?" asks Jaffa2

Mitchell walks out the door and answers the question

"The Friar is going to give us a ride back to the stargate; you got a problem with that" says Mitchell

"No; not at all, once we have one last look around we will be gone" says Jaffa1

While Mitchell and the Friar are keeping the Jaffa busy Ishta sneaks Adria out to the barn and up into the hay loft. The Jaffa lead Mitchell and the Friar back into the Inn where Rya'c and Morgan are doing the dishes

"You have returned; I have something that you forgot. I was going to bring it to you" says Rya'c

Rya'c reaches into his bag, pulls out the orb box and hands it over; as he does the Jaffa leader nods to the other to check upstairs

"Thank you, We were wondering where it went" says Jaffa1

"I must go out and milk the Friars old lady" says Morgan

Morgan goes out the back door toward the barn

A very short time goes by before the Jaffa returns downstairs

"There is no one there" says Jaffa2

"Go check the barn" barks Jaffa1

The second Jaffa heads out the back door for the barn, once there he finds Micah(Ishta) watching Morgan milking the Friars' old lady; he searches the other stalls and finds no one else.

"You two will come with me" says Jaffa2

Ishta and Morgan comply immediately hoping the Jaffa will look no further in the barn. He escorts them back into the Inn and reports

"These two were the only ones in the barn; they were milking the animal" says Jaffas2

"Were they finished?" asks the Friar

"No" says Morgan

"Then you may return to do so before she has a fit" says the Friar

"I apologize for his thoughtlessness; but I am now certain they are not here" says Jaffa1

The Rebel Jaffa leader opens the orb box and calls for the Ha'tac to retrieve them from the village; in less then a minute the Ha'tac is hovering over the center of town and when the two stand directly beneath it the rings are dispatched to take them up and just like that they are gone, hopefully for good

"There's nothing like a Rebel Jaffa sneak attack first thing in the morning to get the blood pumping" says Mitchell

"I thought mine was going to stop for good when they jumped out of that wagon" says the Friar

"Why? You were the one that knew something wasn't right" says Mitchell

"Even still" says the Friar

"Rya'c you can sound the alls clear if you can even figure out where your dad and Bra'tac went" says Mitchell

From behind him "No need to find us we saw everything" says Bra'tac

"Would you stop sneaking up on me like that, ok Rya'c you can still go and let the others know it's safe to come out of hiding"

Once again from behind him "There will be no need for that" says Ishta

Mitchell turns around to find Ishta, Morgan and Adria right there

"Doesn't anyone know how to wait for the all clear signal?" asks Mitchell

"Would someone please tell me what is happening" asks Adams

"Let us go inside for a cup of knox brew and we will explain it all" says the Friar

Everyone goes into the Inn and Morgan pours the blacksmith a cup of brew

"Do you use milk or the sweeter" asks Morgan

"No ma'am thank you" says Adams

So they spend almost an hour giving Adams the low down and then explain that it's time for them to be leaving; Adams tells the Friar not to worry about anything while he is away and that he might want to go to the harvest market to see if anyone needs help with the supplies they're bringing back

"That is an excellent idea we almost inevitably have to send a wagon or two back to the city to pick up the overflow; So you see I would have been going your way after all" says the Friar

They all exchange good byes and start their journey for the big city


	14. Chapter 14

**JUST ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE**

**BACK TO THE SGC**

In the computer lab Dr. Jackson and Col. Carter are sitting at separate work stations pulling up all the records pertaining to the "Dirty Dozens" as well as pictures of the deceased William Smith and the drivers license picture of the satellite technician; In a very short time they are all displayed up on the big screen for everyone to compare

"Well it should come as no surprise there's Lt. Smith" says MacKenzie

"Well , What have we got here?" asks A.J.

The Admiral points to a picture of one Captain Brent Walker USAF retired; Who is the spitting image of the satellite technician

"It should also be no surprise that he was given a medical discharge due to injuries suffered on a training mission over the Antarctic" says Carter

"Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the man he met at the deli, but if memory serves me correctly he looked an awful lot like him" says A.J.

The Admiral points to the picture of another one of the "Dirty Dozens" one Lt. Dustin Campbell

"Well we're three for three" says Jackson

"Let me guess he received a medical discharge due to injuries suffered during a training mission over Antarctica" says Carter

"Bingo" says Jackson

"Why does this one look familiar to me?" asks Vala

Vala points to the "Dirty Dozens " picture of Capt. Colin Skille

"Oh for crying out loud!" cries A.J.

"What is it Admiral?" asks MacKenzie

"Vala's absolutely correct, that's one of the men Woolsey had tailing us" says A.J.

"Just when we thought it couldn't get any weirder" says Carter

"Ok, as of right now we're the only ones that made this connection; do we keep it to ourselves for now or do we bring Woolsey and Webb in?" asks Jackson

"I don't believe Woolsey has a clue about this and for right now I say we keep it that way" says Carter

"Webb on the other hand has the resources to keep an eye on him" says MacKenzie

"True enough; We never spotted anyone tailing us, that doesn't mean they weren't there" says Jackson

"Maybe I was his only concern" says Vala

"I can't say as I blame him" says Jackson

"Oh Please!" whines Vala

"Now's not the time for this discussion; Lately Woolsey and Webb have been like Siamese Twins, but I'm sure I can come up with something to get Woolsey's attention, then the first one of you that get Webb alone can give him the _**good? **_news" says Carter

"Dr. Jackson and I will continue to pull the records of the "Dirty Dozens" to confirm just how many of them went off the grid" says MacKenzie

"Works for me" says Jackson

"Well I guess that leaves me to alert Webb" says A.J.

"I thought we were a team" says Vala

"Vala you have no idea just how paranoid Webb can be, Alone I can make him believe that he and I are the only ones with this information which might work to our advantage, Agreed?" asks A.J.

Everyone nods in agreement. So Carter head off to distract Woolsey, A.J. follows anticipating a shot at Webb, While Jackson and MacKenzie continue to pull the remaining records of the "Dirty Dozen" and Vala sits and watches knowing her computer skills are no where good enough to be of any help.

Carter and the Admiral enter the conference room to find both Woolsey and Webb together to neither ones surprise. Webb is on the phone and Carter is about to try and get Woolsey to go with her, when a perfectly timed distraction is provided for her "Unscheduled gate activation, Unscheduled gate activation" As Carter heads for the door she turns to Woolsey

"Are you Joining me Mr. Woolsey?" Says Carter

"There doesn't seem to be anything I need to be here for so Yes" says Woolsey

Carter and Woolsey head to the control room leaving the Admiral his chance to alert Webb (that is if he gets off the phone before anyone else interutps )

Carter and Woolsey enter the control room to find Sgt. Harriman talking with Sgt. Sharp from the beta site

"Is there a problem Sgt." asks Carter

"I'll let Sgt Sharp pass this little gem along" says Walter

"Fine, Sgt Sharp what do you have for us" says Carter

"Not really sure if it's anything Ma'am but Col. Havlat said I should pass it along" says Sharp

"Spit it out Sgt." says Carter

"Yes Ma'am, One minute the Generals and Sgt. Syler were on the lake fishing, the next thing we know they're all heading for shore at the same time and at a brisk pace from what we could tell; The next thing we know all three of them are standing about twenty feet from shore with their shot guns. What ever it is they're shooting at is to small for the satellite to pick up" explains Sharp

"Shouldn't you be asking them not us" says Carter

"We're hoping to keep them from knowing we're watching" says Sharp

"Calling us helps you with this how?" says Carter

"The Col. was hoping you might have and update worth delivering to the Generals personally" says Sharp

Carter turns her back to the screen and gives Walter the sign to mute the mic and asks Woolsey

"The information about the "Dirty Dozens" might be worth the trip" says Carter

"I was hoping not to get their hopes yet but go ahead they're going to find out sooner or later" says Woolsey

Carter turns back to the screen and nods to Walter

"We do have a little tid-bit that will give you a good enough reason to make the trip" says Carter

"Great, Am I allowed to know or should I get Col. Havlat" asks Sharp

Carter can't be sure if A.J. has gotten Webb alone yet so she decides to stretch it out for all it worth. "You'd better get the Col."

"Do you really think that was needed?" asks Woolsey

"Better safe than sorry" says Carter

"That's why I Chose you; maybe I should get back to Webb" says Woolsey

"I'd rather you stayed here just in case Col. Havlat has any questions for you" says Carter

"Very well" says Woolsey

Col. Havlat enters the picture

"Yes Col. Carter what have you got for us?" asks Havlat

"Mr. Woolsey and I have decided to let the Generals know that we've discovered a link between the bad guys and the "Dirty Dozens"" says Carter

"Your kidding!" says Havlat

"Afraid not; So far we have 3 positive ID's ; We think this information might give you the excuse you need to make a trip out for the face to face you want" says Carter

"I'm not sure I want to tell them this while they're holding shotguns" says Havlat

"Reassure them that this means they(the bad guys)had several other means of acquiring information" says Woolsey

"Good point" says Havlat

**BACK TO THE LAKE**

The scene is the lake where the Generals Landry and O'Neill are standing about twenty feet from the shore while Syler is about 20 feet to the left of them with a case of clay pigeons and the manual thrower as Col. Havlat and Sgt. Sharp arrive in an ATV

"Col. Havlat, What's so important that you couldn't radio us?" asks Landry

"We tried sir but got no response" says Havlat

"Probably couldn't hear it over the gun fire" says O'Neill

"So you were skeet shooting?" asks Sharp

"OH, It's much better then that, just watch" says O'Neill

The Generals reload their guns and give Syler a thumbs up, at which time Syler gives the thrower a flip of the wrist sending a clay pigeon across the water at a very low trajectory; a puzzled Havlat and Sharp watch and are totally blown away when Symbiotes start jumping out of the water trying to grab the clay pigeon as the generals take pot shots at the Symbiotes

"Pretty cool huh" says O'Neill

"Are those what I think they are?" asks Sharp

"We're pretty sure and as soon as we manage to knock one down you'll have a corpse to autopsy" says Landry

"How did they not get penetration when you were in the water?" asks Havlat

"The rubber waders we were wearing are very thick and couldn't be penetrated" says Landry

"I'm really not sure that they are Gou'ld otherwise they would have known to go for the neck" says O'Neill

"You've also got to wonder why the queen went after the fish when we were right there for the taking" says Landry

"Queen!" says Havlat

"You wouldn't happen to have a zat with you?" asks Landry

"Not sure; Sgt?" says Havlat

"I just happened to grab one sirs" says Sharp

"Look for a concussion grenade as well" says O'Neill

Sgt. Sharp reaches into the ATV tool box and comes out with a Zat gun as well as a concussion grenade and hands them to General O'Neill

"How do we want to play it?" asks Landry

General O'Neill hands the Zat to Landry

"Ever throw M-80's into the water?" asks O'Neill

This causes Syler and Sharp to exchange high fives in anticipation of the fire works to come

"You guys are just plain mean" says Landry

"You just be ready with that because although this will stun the little ones it's just going to piss the big one off" warns O'Neill

"Got it" says Landry

General O'Neill proceeds to pull the pin and toss the grenade about 20 ft off shore into about 15 ft of water, while everyone else decides to take cover behind the ATV. BOOM! The grenade goes off followed shortly afterward by several different types fish and other crustaceans including symbiotes come floating to the top. As everyone slowly walk towards the shore General Landry spots the queen break the surface 200 ft off shore heading their way at an alarming pace.

"TAKE COVER!" yells Landry

Everyone jumps back behind the ATV and General Landry takes aim

"How close you going to let it get?" asks O'Neill

"You tell me what the effective range of one of these is" asks Landry

"Do we want it dead or alive?" asks O'Neill

"You know the lab rats will want a shot at it" says Landry

"Then wait until just before it gets to shore" says O'Neill

At the pace the queen is traveling this doesn't take long and as she gets to about 15 ft from shore Landry fires and achieves a direct hit. The queen immediately slows to a coast and stops as her bottom starts to drag the bottom.

"Do we have the proper hardware to lock her up?" asks Landry

"Do we have the right drugs to keep her under until the proper tank can be brought here?" asks O'Neill

"Sgt. Sharp take the ATV back to base and tell Felger what we need and if we don't have it here call the SGC and put in a priority request" says Havlat

"Not Felger!" says O'Neill

"Afraid so" says Havlat

"Yes sir, as quick as I can" says Sharp

"Do we have anything to scoop one of the little ones up to send back to keep Felger busy" asks Landry

"Why bother, as soon as he knows that there is a queen here there'll be no stopping him" says O'Neill

"True enough; Just bring something to properly contain them as well" says Landry

With that Sgt. Sharp heads back towards base while the rest stand guard over the queen. Sgt. Syler runs back to the camp site and brings back a folding chair for each one

"Why thank you Syler" says O'Neill

"No problemo sir; I was up for lunch detail sirs anyone hungry?" says Syler

"I guess it couldn't hurt what are you offering? And if you mention this mornings fish remember who's holding the Zat" says Landry

"Well I could walk over to the shore line and see what else floated up" says Syler

"Nobody goes near the water until the proper equipment gets here" orders O'Neill

"I concur, so why don't you go back to camp and whip something up that isn't native to this planet if you catch my drift" says Landry

"Got it sir" says Syler

SGT. Sharp arrives back at the Beta-site base and goes directly into the lab where Jay Felger is busy fiddling with something

"Felger (a startled Felger almost falls off his stool) do we have the tranquilizers necessary to keep a symbiote queen out until the proper tank can be arranged for?" asks Sharp

"Gees Sgt you scared the heck out of me ; Why would you need those kinds of drugs?" asks Felger

"To keep a symbiote queen down until the proper equipment gets here" says Sharp

"They found a queen at the lake? I went wading into that lake." says Felger

"Well apparently they do have standards" mocks Sharp

"Very funny; However thanks to the Pangeras we now have the drugs needed to tranc a queen as standard issue." says Felger

Felger opens a cabinet and pulls out a rather large vile of tranquilizer, then reaches into a drawer for some refillable darts

"The rifle is hanging right behind you" says Felger

Sharp turns around to see it and takes it down

"I'm ready let's go" says Felger

"Not so fast , I still have to contact the SGC and request a tank; we're probably going to need some additional equipment another tent or 2 , some additional food and at least 3 more cots." says Sharp

"Fine just try not to tell Coombs he'll only get me into trouble like he always does." says Felger

Sgt. Sharp goes into the control room and dials up the SGC. Back at the SGC the usual alarm goes off "Unscheduled gate activation, Unscheduled gate activation" Col. Carter and Woolsey had made it back to the conference

room and were still there with Webb and the Admiral still discussing what direction to take as far as the "Dirty Dozens" when it goes off ; this time all four head to the control room

"It's the beta-site Ma'am" says Walter

"Already, Put it up Sgt." says Carter

As the screen comes up it's Sgt Sharp

"That was quick" says Carter

"Yes Ma'am and your not going to believe what they were shooting at" says Sharp

"Who was shooting?" says Webb

"Go ahead Sgt" says Carter

"They were shooting at symbiote larva" says Sharp

"Gou'ld!" yells Woolsey

"Not sure yet, but General O'Neill threw a concussion grenade in stunning a bunch of small ones only to really piss off the queen" says Sharp

"A Queen! _**I**_ sent them there for their own safety!" cries Woolsey

"Yep, but General Landry was standing ready with a Zat and knocked her out; we're just getting ready to go back with the tranquilizer gun and the drugs we were issued for just this purpose.

"Good; What do you need from us?" asks Carter

"The generals said we would need a tank to secure her in and the proper equipment to test her and her offspring" says Sharp

"You got it, anything else?" says Carter

"Another bottle of that tranquilizer couldn't hurt and you'll probably want to let the appropriate lab rats in on the fun; Oh ,and Felger would appreciate it if Coombs isn't one of them" says Sharp

"Well they do have a history, but I can't promise anything, He does pretty much head up the department" says Carter

"Thank you, Sgt. Ladd will be on duty here as soon as Felger and I head back to the lake" says Sharp

"Hopefully we'll have what you need on route within a couple of hours SGC out" says Carter

With that the screen goes black on both ends

"Alright Felger let's get this stuff back to the lake, what all did you pack us" asks Sharp

"Two more tents, three more cots, 12 MRE's, another Zat and a few high powered lights" says Felger

"Not bad Felger, not bad" says Sharp

"Can we just go now, I can't wait to see it" says Felger

Sharp and Felger head back to the lake

**BACK AT THE SGC**

In the control room everyone is still trying to get a grip on what just transpired

"Calm down Woolsey everything seems to be under control" says Webb

"Never the less anyone we send will have to be in haz-mat suits and be prepared to test everyone and I mean everyone there just to make sure" says Carter

"Agreed" says Woolsey

"Has Col. Mitchell checked in yet?" asks Carter

"No Ma'am and all attempts to contact them have failed as well" Walter says

"Prepare a UAV for deployment to P-1953; Anyone for some "Morton Salt"" says Carter

Col. Carter exit's the control room heading for the labs

"What was the Morton Salt thing all about" asks Webb

"Why are you looking at me for?" says Woolsey

They both look at Sgt. Harriman

"Probably the whole "When it rains it pours" idea" says Walter

"Very good Sgt." says Webb

In under an hour the UAV is ready to deploy through the gate and Sgt. Harriman pages Col. Carter to the control room

"What now Walter?" asks Carter

"We're ready to deploy the UAV Ma'am" says Walter

"Very good dial it up" says Carter

Walter dials up P-1953 and a wormhole is quickly established and the UAV is launched

"The UAV will reach its destination in 5,4,3,2,1, we're receiving telemetry now and it will be at altitude in 3,2,1..." Walter stops

The screen goes blank

"What just happened, play that back in slow-motion" says Carter

Walter does just that and the UAV camera barely gets the ground into focus when a staff blast is seen coming at it from near the gate and the UAV takes a direct hit knocking it out of the sky

"Well now we know that they might have run into interference, but there's nothing we can do for them right now; Disconnect the wormhole Walter" says Carter

"Yes Ma'am" says Walter

"Clear that launching pad out of the gate room to get ready for the supplies going to the Beta-site Sgt." orders Carter

"Yes Ma'am" says Walter


	15. Chapter 15

**JUST LIKE A BAD PENNY**

**BACK TO P-1953**

The first days ride goes by without incident and as The Friar and Mitchell set up camp Morgan and Adria gather fire wood. That leaves Bra'tac, Teal, Ishta and Rya'c to do the hunting. After the tents are up and the fire wood is gathered Mitchell works on starting the fire and putting together a make shift spit while Morgan and Adria help the Friar prepare the veggies Not to long after that the hunting party returns with three of the Scuzzie type animals that are already skinned and gutted ready to cook

"You guys don't waste any time do you" says Mitchell

"A wise hunter leaves the entrails behind for the other animals to feast on" says Bra'tac

"Please keep the specifics to yourself; I would like to retain my appetite" says Morgan

"I don't know what they are, but it sounds awful " says Adria

Friar Duncan takes the carcasses from Rya'c and proceeds to load them

onto Mitchells' make shift spit and start them cooking Rya'c takes up his spot as the spit turner and Morgan sets the pot with the veggies at the side of the fire

The animals were small so they cook up quickly as do the veggies. So not much over an hour and the meal is ready to consume. Everybody enjoys the feast as well as a mug of the Friars ale which he gladly brought along for the trip and then it is time for everyone to get a good nights sleep

The next morning everybody is awake at first light except Bra'tac, so Rya'c sneaks up behind him and starts to crow like a rooster; Bra'tac automatically reaches for the water bucket that is no longer there and everyone else bust out laughing

"Very funny perhaps you have already forgotten the Shutsta" says Bra'tac

"Perhaps you should check your ear old man" says Teal'c

Bra'tac wipes behind his ear and comes out with the red substance on it

"That blasted fowl has thrown me off my game!" cries Bra'tac

"Come eat breakfast Master Bra'tac we all have another long day ahead of us" says the Friar

The Friar hands Bra'tac a bowl of oatmeal

"I thought we brought eggs for the journey" says Bra'tac

"I was saving them for tonight's final meal to make boiled hard devils eggs with Sklura; I even brought a jar for you to take with you" says the Friar

"An excellent plan Friar" says Bra'tac

Everyone eats breakfast and washes it down with a cup of Knox Brew before packing up the camp site and heading on down the road. The days journey goes by rather quickly and they are rapidly approaching the stargate when Bra'tac request silence; everyone complies and listens

"Do you hear it? I do not recognize it" says Bra'tac

"I do It's a UAV; The SGC must be getting worried about us" says Mitchell

Mitchell reaches for his radio but before he can even turn it on a staff blast takes out the UAV and it comes crashing to the ground

"I think somebody played us and are setting a trap at the gate" says Mitchell

"Indeed" says Teal'c

"What is our next move?" asks Ishta

"We calmly continue the rouse; The Friar rides up to the gate with only Mitchell and Rya'c ; while the rest of us hide in the dense brush" says

Bra'tac

"Once you are through to Chu'lac we should be able to see the Ha'tac leave as well, we will then follow right behind" says Teal'c

"Should work, but if we don't see you within the hour we're coming right back" says Mitchell

"I sure hope so" says Adria

So The Friar rides the wagon to the front of the stargate they exchange good-byes, Mitchell dials the address for Chu'lac and once the wormhole is established he and Rya'c depart. The wormhole disengages and the Friar rides off towards the city. The plan works to perfection as soon as the Jaffa see Mitchell and Rya'c go through the gate and the Friar ride off they take off and from the ground Teal'c sees a hyperspace window open reassuring him that they are really gone this time

"Let us join Mitchell and Rya'c before they change their minds again" says Teal'c

So Teal'c, Bra'tac, Ishta, Morgan and Adria climb out of the brush and go to the gate, where Teal'c dials up Chu'lac and as soon as the wormhole is open they quickly depart. On Chu'lac Mitchell and Rya'c are waiting as Teal'c, Bra'tac, Ishta, Morgan and Adria exit the event horizon

"They had every opportunity to see where we dialed to, so we probably shouldn't stay long" says Mitchell

"This is where Rya'c, Ishta and I go our own way; You and Teal'c can deliver them to your SGC without us" says Bra'tac

"I am sure Kar'yn would appreciate me stopping by (This gets a chuckle from everyone.) Father It is late why don't you stay the night here; Your daughter-in-law would love the opportunity to cook for you and visit for the evening, You are all welcome" says Rya'c

"As long as there are no Scuzzies involved" says Mitchell

"I am sure we will be able to take down something to your liking before we get to the village" says Ishta

"I think that is a wonderful idea" says Teal'c

With that they all head down the trail for the village and before long Ishta and Rya'c both spot a wild boar and with everyone's help to encircle it they take it down; As he always does Bra'tac field dresses it on the spot while Mitchell and Teal'c make a pole large enough to carry it with 2 men on each side. In a short time they are on the move again. About an hour later they enter the village and are greeted warmly by their friends and soon after they are spotted by Rya'cs wife and she runs to him with a huge embrace.

"Husband you are finally home, I have missed you so" says Kar'yn

" And I you; Look who I have talked into spending the night" says Rya'c

They turn to reveal Teal'c and the others, so Kar'yn immediately goes to give Teal'c an Embrace

"Father It is so goods to see you" says Kar'yn

"I was surprised you weren't along for the trip" says Teal'c

Rya'cs Wife turns to Rya'c and with a stern look " You did not tell him!" says Kar'yn

"I was waiting for the appropriate moment" says Rya'c

"Well That time Is past I am sure he can see for himself" says Bra'tac

"See what?" asks Teal'c

"That you are to be a grandfather" says Rya'c

"SOFT! That is all I am going to say" says Bra'tac

"Well congratulations to you both" says Teal'c

With that everyone else offers their congratulations as well

"As we have already discussed the rebel Jaffa could have seen where Mitchell dialed so we must take care." says Bra'tac

"Indeed" says Teal'c

"Look what we caught for dinner, We were hoping there would already be a fire going so we could get it right on" says Rya'c

"Lucky for you 2 others were brought down hours ago and are almost ready to eat; that would have taken hours to cook; We will save that one for tomorrow; There is water warming at the fire if anyone wishes to clean up with Rya'c" offers Kar'yn

With that she points Rya'c in the direction of the fire

"I guess I need to clean up" says Rya'c

"We're right behind you kiddo" says Mitchell

Everyone heads to the fire to freshen up


	16. Chapter 16

**BATTING 1.000**

**BACK TO THE SGC**

Just about that time Dr. Jackson and Col. MacKenzie enter the control room

"We were beginning to wonder if you were ever going to get Woolsey and Webb separated " asks Jackson

"Oh that, We accomplished that 2 hours ago, however a few things came up" says Carter

"Such as?" asks Jackson

"Wow , where should I start; for starters Havlat had Sharp call us looking for an excuse to go see what the Generals were shooting at; we gave them the "Dirty Dozens"" says Carter

"And then?" asks MacKenzie

"They called back to say the Generals were shooting at Symbiote larva and in the process pissed off the resident queen forcing them to zat her; We're in the process of putting together the equipment they need to incarcerate her for testing ; In the interim I decided to send a UAV through to P-1953 and try to make contact with Col. Mitchell and Teal'c

"Did you? Make contact I mean" asks Jackson

"Nope, The UAV was blown out of the sky by a staff blast almost immediately after exiting the gate" says Carter

"Are you going to send help?" asks MacKenzie

"Not just yet; the fact they shot it down tells me whoever they are needed to prevent us from contacting our people meaning there is still a chance they're ok" says Carter

"You're kidding" says MacKenzie

"Nope; We know the gate is in the hands of unfriendly persons unknown and we don't send more people until the situation is clarified, We'll continue to try to make radio contact and maybe even try another UAV later; Right now we **know** the Generals have a situation that requires our assistance and once we've got that under control we'll try again to make contact with P-1953 not before" says Carter

"This isn't the first time something like this has happened and believe me this has always been the right thing to do" explains Jackson

"Hey, I'm the new kid on the block and I bow to your experience" says MacKenzie

"I realize that this will seem like I'm just pouring gas onto the fire, but we finished pulling the records of all the "Dirty Dozens" and we batted 1.000, Every last one of them took medical discharges etc. etc. etc. and as no surprise" says Jackson

"They all fell off the gird since" says Carter

"That would be correct" says MacKenzie

"Your not going to believe who one of them is" says Jackson

"Who?" asks Carter

"Jennifer Hailey" says Jackson

"Your kidding?" says Carter

"Nope; Apparently after she finished her training with us she went for X-302 training and was a co-pilot over Antarctica during the battle" says Jackson

"Wow, I hope she's alright" says Carter

"Me too" says Jackson

"What about payroll records and their pension checks, like the Admiral suggested" asks Carter

"Believe it or not with all the security clearances we have here, we can't access payroll records" says Jackson

"Your kidding" says Carter

"Nope" says Jackson

"Maybe Webb might have a less ethical way to retrieve them" suggests MacKenzie

"That call will be left up to Woolsey and Webb; I for one am not ready to condemn all of them just yet" says Carter

"As a JAG I would be against it as well, except for the ones we've already uncovered" says MacKenzie

90 minutes later an ATV pulling a trailer with the tank large enough to hold the queen is driven into the gate room ready to deploy to the Beta-Site; Along with Half a Dozen lab rats giggling like school girls, with Coombs in the lead, carrying all kinds o test equipment and all dressed in Haz-Mat gear

"Remember! Everyone gets tested NO EXCEPTIONS!" yells Carter

"Understood" says Coombs

"I don't see any sleeping accommodations or extra rations; You know the Beta-Site is only equipped to handle a small contingent" reminds Carter

"But, but …." stutters Coombs

"Alright I'll take care of it this time, But in the future I expect you to think these things through a little more." says Carter

"Thank You Col. Carter" says Coombs

"Dial it up Walter" says Carter

"Yes Ma'am" says Walter

"Then put a care package together for them or they'll be sleeping on the ground and eating roots" says Carter

Walter chuckles at the thought "Will do"

With that Carter turns to exit the control room only to be met by Col. MacKenzie

"What's up?" asks Carter

"I guess we're all meeting in the conference room" says MacKenzie

So Carter and MacKenzie head for the conference room there already waiting are Webb, Woolsey, A.J., Jackson, Vala and a surprise guest Col. Davis

"Dr. Jackson has already updated us on the "Dirty Dozens"" says Woolsey

"I'm prepared to access the payroll records if needed but from what I'm seeing in the transcripts for the files on that disc we should probably send all four of you to Vegas first" says Webb

Vala jumps for joy "YES!"

"All of them go there a lot and it's our theory that is where they fund themselves" says Webb

"Mr. Woolsey is there anyway I might be able to join them this time" asks Carter

"Dr. Jackson has already informed us that Jennifer Hailey might be one of them, that is why we have already brought Col. Davis to fill in for you in your absence" says Woolsey

"Thank you, very much" says Carter

"My surveillance teams have also been updated" says Webb

Carter understands what he means and just nods in agreement

"So pack your bags kids your off again" says Woolsey

"I don't know that I had time to unpack" says Jackson

"Really" A.J. concurs

"I can be ready to go in 30 minutes, What's the first available flight?" asks Carter

"This is to important to wait for commercial schedules we're chartering you a flight right out of the municipal airport as soon as your ready" says Webb

"I'll get right on it" says Carter

With that everyone else disperses to get their luggage together and a brief 30 minutes later they all meet at the motor pool ready to load up

"Why do I get the feeling of Dej vu?" asks A.J.

"What is that?" asks Vala

"Not important, Forget I said anything" says A.J.

"OK" says Vala

After everyone is loaded up they make the short trip to the airport where a charter plane is already waiting for them, as well as a luggage trolley waiting to take all their bags straight to the plane

"Now this is more like it; We should travel this way more often" says Vala

"But there's no metal detectors this way" says MacKenzie

"Well it does have a few draw backs" says Vala

Carter has a very puzzled look on her face and A.J rolls his eyes back and stares at the sky

"I'll explain later" says Jackson

"I hope so" says Carter

Their luggage is quickly loaded and they barely have time to fasten their seat belts as the plane is already taxing out to the run way for take off and just as quickly they're airborne

"These transcripts would have us believe that several of them work as dealers at various casinos, how they manage to work the games to their advantage is still a mystery" says Carter

"All the dealer needs to is let the others know what his/her hole card is to significantly affect the odds" says A.J.

"So we're probably looking for blackjack tables" says MacKenzie

"It would appear" says Carter

The flight takes a little over an hour and they are already on the ground taxiing toward the terminal. Once offloaded an MGM Casino shuttle is waiting to load them up an head to the hotel to get them checked in. Carter, MacKenzie and Vala get a suite with two queen beds and a sleeper couch, while Jackson and A.J. share a double with two queen beds. The rooms are adjoining so getting together to plan strategy is easy.

"Vegas is 24/7 were we given any indication what shifts the people work?" asks MacKenzie

"Nope" says Carter

"So we need to work in shifts" says Jackson

"I'm ready who going with me?" asks Vala

"I guess I could give the Admiral a little break from you" says Jackson

"Very funny; Do you think there are any Authentic…" Vala starts

Before she can finish A.J. answers "No, in all the times I've been here I have yet to find an Authentic New York Deli in Vegas"

"You must have really enjoyed New York Vala" says MacKenzie

"Very much so especially the food" says Vala

"You do realize that we're just going to go in take pictures of the dealers and move on to the next" says Jackson

"We will have to play a little to avoid looking to suspicious" says Vala

"She's right you know" says Carter

"Yes, I know; The rest of you grab some shut eye and we'll wake you when it's your turn" says Jackson

"Sounds like a plan" says A.J.

With that Jackson and Vala head for the gaming floor of the MGM where they are staying and the rest exchange goodnights climb into their PJ"s and hit the hay

"You do realize that your going to have to show me how this game is played" says Vala

"How about I play to start and you watch and learn" says Jackson

"OK; Tell you what, as your playing I will have you turn so I can take your picture when in actuality I get the dealer behind you" says Vala

"That's actually a very good plan" says Jackson

"Thank you" says Vala

"I had better hit an ATM before we go to far, This could get a little expensive" says Jackson

"Not when you win" says Vala

"Don't you mean if?" asks Jackson

"I have complete faith in you Daniel" says Vala

After hitting up an ATM Daniel manages to find a seat at a $5 table and starts to play, Vala does her thing with the camera and gets pictures of all the dealers that are close enough then watches Daniel to learn how the game is played, just as Daniel busts

"Why did he win, You had 22 and he only had 17?" asks Vala

"The point of the game is to get as close to 21 as possible without going over, once you go over you bust or lose; The dealer has to continue to draw until he/she has at least 17 once he/she does they have to stop, If I Have a face card and an ace it's called Black Jack and I win unless the dealer has one too" explains Jackson

"I'll just keep watching and hopefully I'll catch on" says Vala

Talking so only Vala can hear him "You just let me know when you have what you need to move on"

"Right here, I suppose I do" says Vala

"Then let's move on to find the next set of tables" says Jackson

Daniel scoops his chips into a chip cup and they start looking for the next set of live tables, they pass a craps table which gives Daniel a thought

"When you were a Gou'ld could you affect the structure of an object on a molecular level?" asks Jackson

"I think so, if only modestly" says Vala

Jackson takes Vala over to the craps table to show her what he's talking about

"OH, You mean the dice so the land on a certain number with regularity" says Vala

"That's right, I know it can be done; I was just wondering if a symbiote could do it by just holding them?" asks Jackson

"Having never tried I can't be sure, But I'd be willing to bet I could have" says Vala

"Why don't you take my Picture" says Jackson

"Here? Oh, Yes why don't I" says Vala

Vala snaps a picture making sure the dice handler is in the shot and they move on. After hitting all the live tables the MGM had to offer they grab a taxi to the next casino and start all over again

Back at the hotel it's 7AM and Col. MacKenzie is awaken by rumblings from the Admirals room, she puts her ear to the door between the rooms and realizes he's doing his morning work out, so she decides to get her shower out of the way before waking Carter. After she's showered and dressed she gives the door to the Admirals room a tap and A.J. opens it.

"Col. MacKenzie I didn't wake you did I?" asks A.J.

"No sir, but you look like your ready to go; Have we heard from Dr. Jackson or Vala?" asks MacKenzie

"I haven't and yes I am; I'm ready to hit the breakfast bar" says A.J.

"What, no energy bars?" asks MacKenzie

"Ran out on the trip to New York and haven't had time to make more" says A.J.

"Let me leave Col. Carter a note and we'll head down" says MacKenzie

Col. MacKenzie leaves a note for Carter and they go to the breakfast bar. As they leave the room they pass a housekeeping person in the hall and think nothing of it but as soon as they are on the elevator the maid uses a pass key to enter the Admirals room; pulling her cart in the room with her and closes the door. Once in she uncovers the hamper to reveal Major Tom Ming holding a tool box he climbs out of the hamper and proceeds to secure the chair at the desk to the floor, then he reaches under his jacket to remove an image replicating device with a few adjustments he puts it back on his chest immediately changing him into Col. MacKenzie. They then begin a conversation loud enough to wake Carter. Carter has just gotten out of bed and walks to the door between the rooms

"My aren't you the early riser" says Carter

"Old habits from working with the Admiral, Who by the way is already down at the breakfast bar" says Ming(as MacKenzie)

"Oh ok just give me a minute and I'll be ready" says Carter

Carter walks back into her room, but returns almost immediately with a gun pointed at the maid

"Carter ! What's going on?" says Ming(as MacKenzie)

"The maids' a Gou'ld I sensed it when I came to the door" says Carter

"Alright let me hold the gun on her while you get something to restrain her with " says Ming(as MacKenzie)

Carter hands the gun over to whom she thinks is MacKenzie and before she can turn around the maid reaches down her blouse and removes the image replicating device revealing Jennifer Hailey

"It's Jennifer Hailey!" says Carter. Looking towards MacKenzie who is now holding the gun on her as he removes his image replicating device to reveal Major Tom Ming. Leading Carter to the desk and encouraging Carter to sit down all of a sudden she's being handcuffed to the chair

"Jennifer! Why are you doing this?" asks Carter

"Let's not kid each other Col. I know you've figured out what happened in Antarctica and I know you're here to find us, so I'm here to let you know your chasing the wrong people" answers Jennifer

"How's that?" asks Carter

"There were 36 of us that walked into McMurdo Base, 30 of us had convinced the Symbiotes that had saved our lives that we could give them a good life right here on earth as long as we co-existed" says Ming

"The other 6?" asks Carter

"The Symbiotes convinced the human that they could be gods on other planets and they fell for it" says Jennifer

"Do you know what started this investigation in the first place?" asks Carter

"Yes, they seem to have enticed someone with gate access into helping them get off world" says Ming

"From what we've intercepted it looks like a general" says Carter

"We wouldn't know, But I can tell you there is an E-trail, You just have to know where to look" says Jennifer

"Why don't you just come in and let us help you?" asks Carter

"You just don't get it , WE do not need your help, We are doing quite nicely, In fact we are using our new abilities to help hundreds of less fortunate to lead healthier lives" says Jennifer

"How's that?" ask Carter

"We collected everything we needed from the crash sites, including the hand held medical devices and after we replenish our funds here we take turns going to third world countries eradicating diseases and hunger; at the same time uncovering hidden resources, some as simple as water to irrigate crops; We don't just buy surplus food and hand it out, we teach them how to grow their own." says Ming

"Very admirable, but…" starts Carter

"But Nothing, We know exactly what would happen to us if we came in and it's just not going to happen. We're here to give you the leads you need to find your mole nothing more nothing less" injects Jennifer

Jennifer puts a large envelope down on the desk in front of Carter then she put the keys to the handcuffs on the bed out of Carters reach

"I'm sure Dr. Jackson will be back soon enough, in the mean time.." says Jennifer

Jennifer takes the imaging device makes a small adjustment and puts it back on instantly changing her back into the housekeeper

"Pretty cool huh? We've made significant improvements with these, so we can pretty much go wherever we want including the SGC; I just wish they had listened to me when I said we should go in and delete all records of us" says Jennifer

"I believe you and if these lead us to what we need I'll do whatever I can to see that your left in peace" adds Carter

"If it hadn't been for you taking me under your wing I might have been one of the six; I still can't thank you enough and I really feel This is the best way to repay you; Good bye" says Jennifer

Major Ming makes adjustments to his device before putting it on changing him into another maid. They leave and Carter proceeds to open the envelope and go over the contents and is totally blown away by what she's reading. A little less than 20 minutes later Daniel enters the room to find Carters predicament

"Sam what happened?" asks Jackson

"Jennifer Hailey and company stopped by" says Carter

"How did she manage this" asks Jackson

"They have the image replicating devices and they've made several modifications to them; I walked into the room and saw Col. MacKenzie with a maid; I could sense a symbiote and thought it was the maid, I went back to my room and came back with my sidearm; then explained to Col. MacKenzie how I sensed it, she then offered to hold the gun so I could find something to restrain her with; only to have the gun pointed at me and here I am" explains Carter

"That could make our task a lot harder" says Jackson

"How about nearly impossible; Anyway Jennifer says that of the 36 ,30 including her convinced the symbiotes that they could live extremely well right here on Earth if they listened to their host and are doing just that. The other 6 however, were convinced by the symbiotes that they could be gods on other planets and it is them that have enticed the mole to get them gate access" says Carter

"Did they say if those 6 have the imaging devices?" asks Jackson

"No, but it's fairly obvious they don't, otherwise the would have walked right onto base and helped themselves" says Carter

"Good point" says Jackson

"Daniel?" pleads Carter

"Yes?" says Jackson

"The keys please(Pointing at the handcuff keys on the bed)" says Carter

"OH, Yes sorry" says Jackson

Daniel gets the keys and unlocks the handcuffs freeing Carter

"Where's Vala?" asks Carter

"We ran into the Admiral and Col. MacKenzie at the breakfast bar, The very fancy breakfast bar" says Jackson

"Say no more; Well while I'm getting dressed why don't you look over the packet she left us" says Carter

Carter goes back into her room closing the door behind her and Daniel starts to peruse the information in the packet, about 15 minutes later Vala, A.J. and MacKenzie return from the breakfast bar to see why Col. Carter hasn't made an appearance

"We expected to see Col. Carter before now is she awake?" asks MacKenzie

"Oh yea, Wide awake now, I believe she's in the shower but should be done fairly soon" answers Jackson

No sooner said then Carter appears at the door between rooms fully dressed and still towel drying her hair

"Oh, Hi, been back long?" asks Carter

"Just actually, Are you two going to tell us what's going on?" asks Vala

"I had visitors, Jennifer Hailey and I believe the other one was one Maj. Tom Ming USAF ret." says Carter

"They were here?" says MacKenzie

"They also had Image replicating devices which gave Sam the impression she was talking to Col. MacKenzie and a maid" adds Jackson

"Your kidding!" says A.J.

"Nope, we've been developing these devices for some time now and apparently they managed to get their hands on one and made some exceptional modifications, because it was flawless; They had secured the desk chair to the floor and when I sat down she handcuffed me to it" says Carter

A.J. tries to lift the chair to no avail

"Where's that leave us now?" asks MacKenzie

"Well this is going to be hard to believe but Jennifer gave us everything we need to find our mole" says Carter

"Your kidding!" says A.J.

"Nope; Not as long as this all checks out" says Jackson

"Are you telling me we get 1 whole night in Vegas and that's it!" says Vala

"No Vala; Until this information can be verified, We will continue to follow the leads we came to" says Carter

"Well take your time" says Vala

"Yes sir!" says Carter

"So do we fax these over an open line or do we overnight them through the mail?" asks Jackson

"Just put that ball in Woolsey's court; What time does that very fancy breakfast bar end?" asks Carter

"This is Vegas, it pretty much goes until mid-afternoon" says MacKenzie

"Then if you'll excuse me I haven't ate yet and I'm sure Daniel and Vala are ready to get a little sleep" says Carter

"You can say that again" says Jackson

"Well I suppose Col. MacKenzie and I will keep you company and afterwards we can check out a few Casino Black Jack tables." says A.J.

"I'll take the information Jennifer gave us and give Woolsey a call to see how they want to proceed" says Carter

"Sounds like a wonderful plan Bye-Bye" says Jackson

With that Daniel escorts A.J., Carter and MacKenzie to the door

As Vala goes back into the ladies room not even bothering to close the door behind her.

After getting off the elevator Carter hit's the speed dial on her cell for the SGC; when the automated system answers she punches in General Landry's extension figuring that's where Webb and Woolsey will be

Col. Davis answers. "Col. Davis"

"Col. Davis are Woolsey and Webb there" asks Carter

"Yes, right here" says Davis

"Go ahead and put me on speaker if it's just you three" says Carter

It is so he does just that

"Go ahead Col. Carter" says Davis

"First I want to thank you again for letting me accompany the others this trip and let you know it paid off already" says Carter

"How's that?" asks Webb

"Jennifer Hailey paid me a visit this morning" says Carter

"I assume you took her into custody" says Woolsey

"Are you telling me you've issued warrants, because this would be the first I'm hearing about it" says Carter

"No, Of course not; We have nothing to get warrants with and Woolsey knows it" says Webb

"Well, It wouldn't have been the first time" says Woolsey

"Never the less she took me into custody" says Carter

"Excuse me?" says Webb

"First you need to know they have Image replicating devices so she posed as a housekeeper and used a pass key to get her and Maj. Tom Ming into the guys room; There they secured the desk chair to the floor. Then using the Image replicating device to make him look like Col. MacKenzie they lured me into that room; obviously knowing I would sense a symbiote and think it was the maid I handed my sidearm to who I thought was Col. MacKenzie, who proceeded to put me into the chair, where she handcuffed me recounts Carter

"Where was everyone else while this was happening?" ask Woolsey

"Daniel and Vala went out last night to start looking for possible suspects and still hadn't returned and the Admiral and Col. MacKenzie had gotten up real early and went down for breakfast" says Carter

"So. What did your Ms. Hailey have to say?" asks Webb

"In a nut shell she told me only 6 of the "Dirty Dozens" were involved with trying to infiltrate the SGC; That the rest of them had nothing to do with it" says Carter

"You Believed Her!" says Woolsey

"What I believe has no barring on my assignment and besides I was in no position to argue the point" says Carter

"Did she offer anything of value to you to assist us in finding these 6?" asks Webb

"No; She did however give me the paper trail that is supposed to lead us right to the mole" says Carter

"How do we know she's not just setting someone else up?" asks Woolsey

"That's for you guys to figure out; all you need to tell me is, How do you want us to send the information to you, fax or overnight mail? Asks Carter

"I'll have a man there within the hour with a currier pouch, you seal the information in it and he'll fly it directly to us." says Webb

"Why aren't they bringing it back themselves?" asks Woolsey

"Until it checks out we need to continue what we came to do" says Carter

"What she said" adds Webb

"Oh all right, just let us know the minute that currier has the package" says Woolsey

"Will do; You let us know the minute it checks out" says Carter

"Of course" says Webb

"Good-bye" says Carter

With that Carter hangs up and put her cell away and heads directly to the breakfast bar, While the Admiral and MacKenzie just grab a cup of coffee and as they all sit at an empty table

"What's the word?" asks A.J.

"Per Webb a currier will be here within the hour" says Carter

"If Webb said it believe it; Are we going to continue checking out dealers?" asks MacKenzie

With a mouthful of decedent cinnamon roll Carter just shakes her head in the affirmative

"Knowing now that they have these Image replicating devices Our haystack just got a lot bigger and the needle shrunk" says A.J.

Having swallowed Carter can now speak "It's hard to imagine that they could maintain an image for an entire work shift"

"Even if it's powered by that new rare power source?" asks MacKenzie

Radiation poisoning is just as deadly from Naquadah and with the shielding required to contain it, I don't know how they made them(Image replicating device ) so small" says Carter

"I don't think they'll be offering the schematics to us any time soon" says A.J.

Carter isn't even finished with her breakfast when the currier arrives; none of them are in uniform so he's not sure who he's looking for, so the Admiral goes over to make contact

"Excuse me, I'm Admiral Chegwidden, Are you looking for my party?" asks A.J.

"Yes sir, You have something for me?" asks the Currier

"Right this way" says A.J.

The Admiral shows the currier to his table and the currier sets the unsealed pouch on the table; Col. Carter takes the pouch and puts the envelope from Jennifer Hailey into it and seals the pouch

"There you go and don't let anyone or anything distract you" says Carter

"Yes Ma'am" says the Currier

With that the currier is gone as fast as he appeared and within a few minutes Carter is finished eating

"Where to first?" asks Carter

"Here's as good a place as any" says A.J.

"Duplication of Dr. Jackson and Vala's route makes no difference since it will be a new shift on duty" says MacKenzie

"Right, so let's do it" says Carter

MacKenzie, Carter and A.J. head for the closest group of live tables and get as many photos as they can before heading out to the next casino. After about 5 hours of playing Blackjack and taking pictures the trio is ready for lunch.

"They say the buffet here is second to none" says A.J.

"Could you be a little more subtle?" asks MacKenzie

"Why? All he did was read our collective minds" says Carter

"Great, Right this way" says A.J.

They make their way to the buffet and waste no time filling their first plate of what promises to be many; If it wasn't for being interrupted by the SGC calling

"This is Col. Carter" says Carter

"Well Ms. Hailey was right; The information lead us right to a prime candidate and we're trying to track him down, so the plane you flew out on is still there and being prepped to bring you back as we speak" says Webb

"So it's not one of the Generals?" asks Carter

"Nope" says Webb

"Who?" asks Carter

"I don't want to say over an open line, You'll have to wait until you've returned" says Webb

"I understand see you soon bye" says Carter

Carter hangs up her cell and puts it away

"Eat up, we're heading home" says Carter

"The info checked out?" asks A.J.

"Looks like, However they won't disclose who over an open line" says Carter

"Understandable; Should we call the others and give them a chance to grab a meal?" asks MacKenzie

"You know Vala will kill if we don't, not sure about Dr. Jackson" says A.J.

"I guess we should give them the option" says Carter

Carter pulls her cell back out and dials Daniels; After 6 rings Carter expects the voice mail to answer, but to her surprise a groggy Daniel answers

"Yea Sam" answers Jackson

"Sorry to wake you so soon but Webb already checked the information out and they have a prime candidate for the mole; They want us to the airport ASAP and I figured you might want to enjoy a nice meal before flying back, We know Vala will want to." informs Carter

"Wow, That was quick, Could they say if our Generals were cleared?" asks Jackson

"For now, Yes" says Carter

"OK, I'm going to shower before waking Vala, I know She'll be ready to head down to the buffet in a heartbeat" says Jackson

"Oh yea, We're eating at the Bellagio and we'll head back when we've taken full advantage of it" says Carter

"Not something I'd want Vala to know; See you shortly Bye" says Jackson


	17. Chapter 17

**THE GENERAL SIGNED SEALED & DELIVERED**

The scene is the SGC control room. Present are Col. Carter, Dr. Lam, Mr. Woolsey, Agent Webb and Sgt. Harriman

"This has got to be a typo, It's just to bizarre." says Webb

"We were taken aback just as much as you, We triple checked everything. He's our mole." says Carter

"Well, I for one am not surprised." Says Woolsey

"Really?" says Webb

The Alarm goes off, The announcement is made "Incoming worm hole, Incoming worm hole"

"It's the Beta-Site IDC" says Walter

"Open the iris Sgt." says Carter

"Yes Ma'am" says Walter

Walter puts his hand on the palm reader and the iris opens, While everyone but the Sgt. Heads for the gate room and they no sooner get there when the oversized golf cart exit's the event horizon with Sgt. Syler at the wheel. Suspiciously absent is the trailer with all their personnel equipment.

"Welcome home sirs." says Carter

"Yea, We can take only so much peace and quiet right Jack." says Landry

"Speak for yourself, I was enjoying myself, but they said you wanted all of us to return." says O'Neill

The wormhole no sooner disengages when the alarm goes off, The announcement is made "Incoming worm hole, Incoming worm hole"Walter announces over the intercom. "It's SG-1's IDC"

"Right on schedule; Where's all your equipment?" Carter asks O'Neill

"Right back where I intend to go as soon as we finish up here" says O'Neill

"We all enjoyed that lake and plan to take our next leaves there." says Landry

The wormhole connects

"We expecting Col. Mitchell and Teal'c" asks Landry

"Actually we're expecting Daniel, Vala, Adm. Chegwidden, Col. MacKenzie, Judge Sheffield and a very special guest." says Carter

"How long do you plan on keeping us in the dark Col., Is it over or not.?" asks Landry

"Over isn't quite the word we'd use sir" says Carter

"You can say that again" says Webb

"If you must know the mole is Jack O'Neil" says Woolsey

"PERFECT!" says O'Neill

"Lt. Col. Jack O'Neil" says Carter

"EXCUSE ME" says O'Neill

With that exiting the event horizon are Col. MacKenzie, Vala, followed by Dr. Jackson and Adm. Chegwidden, following them is Judge Sheffield "That was amazing, I could get use to that" says Sheffield

Following him are 2 M.P.'s escorting Lt. Col. Jack O'Neil in security cuffs

"Hi Ya Kids; That's right Jack O'Neil (holding up 1 finger) One L!" says Col. O'Neil

The jaws drop on everyone seeing him for the first time

"You haven't heard the last of me I promise you that" says Col. O'Neil

"To the brig if you please men" says Sheffield

The M.P.'s escort Col. O'Neil out of the gate room

"Relieved sir(directed at Gen O'Neill)" says Carter

"Why; I knew it wasn't me" says O'Neill

"What was with the general bit than?" asks Landry

"Apparently he'd been passed over for promotion a couple of times and felt he should be a general by now, so that's what he insisted on being called" says MacKenzie

"That is so bizarre" says O'Neill

"Sir?" asks Carter

"When my promotion papers came through there were 2 copies, I assumed that somebody had just mistakenly duplicated them. I kept the ones' that had my name spelled correctly and disregarded the other." says O'Neill

"Phew! For a minute there I thought you were going to say you got his promotion." says Landry

"Don't go beating yourself up over it ; I'd hate to think what kind of damage he could had caused had he gotten it" says A.J.

"Maybe none at all" says Landry

"His psych evaluations say differently sir, He was prone to temptation regardless of his rank." says Webb

"So we're free to go?" asks O'Neill

"Mr. Woolsey?" says Carter

"By all means" says Woolsey

"DIAL IT UP WALTER!" yells O'Neill

"The Beta-Site sir?" asks Walter

"You got it" says O'Neill

With that General O'Neill jumps behind the wheel of the golf cart, everyone else runs for cover as he spins it around to face the ramp

"Don't forget I'll be there right after I have a night out with my family so they know all's good." says Landry

"Let Dr. Lam tell them" says O'Neill

"I would like to be able to come back without fearing for my life" says Landry

"Your loss" says O'Neill

"Can anyone go?" asks Webb

"Ask Woolsey" says O'Neill

Everyone looks at Woolsey"Well I can't think of any reason why you shouldn't be able to…" starts Woolsey

Before he can finish Webb, Adm Chegwidden and Judge Sheffield are in the cart.

"Hank you don't mind if I use your stuff do ya?" asks A.J.

"Not at all A.J. it's the least I can do after what you've done for us, What about your prisoner?" Asks Landry

"We've worked out a plea bargain" says Sheffield

"In exchange for information on the others. The agency has everything he's given us so far and it will be a couple of weeks before it can all be verified" says Webb

"I'm sure you'll call when they're ready for us." says Sheffield

With the wormhole established general O'Neill hit's the gas and proceeds up the ramp

"Later kids!" says O'Neill

Waving as he enters the event horizon

"You think they'll let us girls have a shot at the lake later?" asks MacKenzie

"I don't see why not, right General Landry?" asks Carter

"Absolutely, but I wouldn't wait for them to come back. Pack a bag and go now; Because I have a feeling that once the CIA finishes checking out Col. O'Neil's information we're all going to be eyeball deep in litigation for sometime to come

"VACATION!" says Vala

"Col. Carter?" says MacKenzie

"I'm not much on vacation" says Carter

"You mean you don't want to put the new mini Naquadah generator through its' paces" ask Landry

"I can't wait sir" says Carter

"Well it just left to go back to the lake and it sounds like it won't be back for some time" says Landry

"Your probably right sir, Do I have your permission to go" asks Carter

"Well I have leave coming and Lt. Col. Davis is going to fill in for me, so unless Col. Mitchell has something urgent, there's nothing standing in your way" says Landry

"Thank you sir, I'll go pack a duffle. Col. MacKenzie how long will it take you to get ready?" asks Carter

"Well all my stuff arrived from Italy just as we were getting ready to go off world, so if my aide marked the boxes correctly I should be back first thing in the morning, soon enough?" asks MacKenzie

"Perfect, You don't mind if I ask Dr. Lam if she would like to go along?( directed at general Landry)" asks Carter

"The more the merrier" says Landry

"Would you like me to give you a lift to your apartment? (directed at Col. MacKenzie)" says Jackson

"Thank you that will save me the aggravation of dealing with the motor pool. Then I'll catch a cab back in the morning." says MacKenzie

With that everyone starts to exit the gate room, when the alarm goes off again "Incoming worm hole, Incoming worm hole" The iris closes as they all look up at Sgt. Harriman waiting to be told what's up

"It's SG-1's IDC Ma'am" says Walter

"Reopen the iris Sgt" says Carter

The iris opens and a few moments later Col. Mitchell exit's the event horizon , followed closely by Teal'c, Morgan le Fay and last but not least Adria(the two latter wearing jump suits). Once again the jaws of everyone there drops to the floor

"Adria!" says Vala

"Mother!" says Adria

Adria runs to Vala and gives her a big hug"It's going to take more then that to get back into my good graces" says Vala

"I know" says Adria

"We were beginning to worry about you guys. Did you forget how to check in?" asks Carter

"Not exactly, This is the first chance we've had to make any contact" says Mitchell

"We sent a UAV to try to make contact but it was…" starts Carter

Mitchell finishes the sentence for Carter "Blown out of the sky; We saw it happen and it saved us a hole lotta trouble"

"How so?" asks Carter

"We were approaching the gate when it happened so we realized that the Rebel Jaffa that we had been dealing with were laying in wait for us at the gate; It will all be in my report for you" says Mitchell

"So the reports were true; They were expelled" says Carter

"Yes and hopefully we managed to keep anyone from knowing we have them" says Mitchell

"That will save us a big headache down the road" says Carter

"So, Did we miss much?" asks Mitchell

"No, Not at all; well we did discover who the mole was and he's in the brig" says Carter

"Did I win the pool?" asks Mitchell

"Pool?" asks Carter

"Yea, You know a few of us guys had a pool on who it was" says Mitchell

"Well you had better keep that to yourself because it turned out the mole was Jack O'Neil" says Carter

"Darn" says Mitchell

"Lt. Col. Jack O'Neil" says Carter

"There's more then one?" asks Mitchell

"Yep, So you probably don't want the generals knowing about that pool" says Carter

"Unfortunately General O'Neill won it" says Mitchell

"How did he do that?" asks Carter

"His pick was "It's Not ME"" says Mitchell

There you have the end of my first story. hope it was as enjoyable to read as it was to write. reveiws are welcome and encouraged


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